


chaos and the calm

by solinasolina



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Humour, but its okay lexa kind of loves it, clarke is an absolute mess at first, no angst i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:04:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7034926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solinasolina/pseuds/solinasolina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nightbloods. <i>Ordinary people with extraordinary powers. </i></p><p>Lexa Woods has been a Nightblood for 17 years so she’s a master of her powers. From simple hexes to potions and free form magic, she’s learnt to incorporate them into her everyday life. In the 21st century, Nightbloods are not as common as they once were but that doesn’t mean they don’t live normal lives. Fortunately for Lexa, her life has been relatively normal and calm. But what happens when she meets Clarke Griffin, a Nightblood of barely a week?</p><p>or the modern day witches au</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

_Nightbloods,_ the term coined for modern day witches. Simple, ordinary people with extraordinary powers. Though now quite rare, they were once as common as those who are left handed. So they walked and lived ‘normal’ lives without non-Nightbloods being afraid or shocked at what they could do.

Some Nightbloods are born with their powers, and others have it triggered throughout their life. There are many theories that discussed the origins of Nightbloods but a lot of them are flawed and outdated. After years of research and testing, and even with the technological advancements of the 21st century, there’s still very little answers to the long list of questions about Nightbloods. So what have people done? Basically just accept it for what it is. _Ordinary people with extraordinary powers._

Lexa Woods, now 25, has been a Nightblood for 17 years. Her powers were triggered when she was 8 years old.

* * *

  _Anya and Lexa were running up and down the hallway playing tips. They were darting in and out of rooms, chasing each other on a quiet Saturday afternoon._

_“Girls! What have I said about running upstairs?!” Gustus, their dad, yelled. “Take it down stairs before one of you trips and seriously hurts yourselves.”_

_Lexa stopped running for a second. “Yes dad!” she yelled back._

_Anya ran past and tapped her sister on the shoulder, “You’re it!” She continued down the hallway and towards the stairs._

_“Hey, that’s not fair!” Lexa huffed, running straight after Anya._

_“You snooze you lose, litt–” Anya suddenly tripped over the rug and was just about to fall forward down the stairs._

_Without even thinking Lexa jumped forward and held out both hands in an attempt to catch her sister, but then suddenly Anya was floating in the air. Her hands and legs were dangling as if she was a puppet. Both girls were in complete shock. Lexa stood there not even daring to breathe. She could feel it in her fingers, the little sparks of energy that made her realise what she was. A **Nightblood**._

_“Dad…” Anya called out._

_Gustus emerged from his room, “What is–”_

_“Help,” Lexa breathed._

_Gustus immediately saw Anya floating in the air, with Lexa standing their looking as if she’d seen a ghost. He moved to kneel besides his daughter. He was also a Nightblood and knew that this was a very delicate situation. When Nightbloods first get their powers they are volatile and can cause more damage than they mean to. He looked up to Anya, “Don’t be scared,” he whispered. “Just breathe and relax, I’ll get you down.”_

_“Okay,” Anya nodded._

_Gustus turned back to Lexa, “Okay Lexa, I need you to listen to me very carefully.”_

_“Dad, please, she’s going to fall.”_

_“She won’t,” Gustus reassured. “Because you’re not going to let her.”_

_Lexa was doing everything she can to not burst into tears. “Can’t you just bring her down?”_

_“No,” he replied. “You’re controlling the bubble she’s in. Only you can bring it down.” Gustus placed his hands over Lexa’s, giving them a small and reassuring squeeze. “Where your hands move, the bubble moves too. So slowly bring your sister away from the stairs.” Lexa nodded and Gustus took his hands off of his daughter’s. He watched as Lexa did as she was told._

_“This is so cool,” Anya whispered. “I’m flying–”_

_“Shhhh,” Gustus cooed. He turned back to Lexa and smiled. “That’s great, now just slowly lower your hands until Anya’s feet are on the ground. When you know she’s safe, just pop the bubble.”_

_“Pop? How?” Lexa asked._

_“You will feel it,” he explained. “It’ll be as if you’re bursting the bubble in your head.”_

_“Okay...” Lexa lowered her hands down slowly, bringing Anya back down to safety. Once both her sister’s feet were on the ground she burst the bubble in her mind. Anya jumped slightly before she stood up straight._

_“That was so cool!”_

_Lexa sighed. “For you maybe.”_

_“Again!”_

* * *

Since that afternoon Lexa’s dad trained her on how to use and maintain her powers. It was horrible at first, she broke countless cups and plates, nearly set her backyard on fire (more than once) and accidently scared her baby cousin into having nightmares for over a week. She wasn’t even going to start on pain she suffered through in those first few weeks. The kids at school teased her for being a “freak” and it didn’t help that she was already kind of the social outcast.

But like most things do, it got better with time. She broke less plates and started less fires. She became comfortable and confident enough to use her powers in public – learning not to give a damn what other people thought of her. What she focused on was how it made others feel. People were genuinely enthralled by it, and Lexa loved the fact that she could have this effect on people. She embraced it and it became a part of her in the best way possible.

With the exception of her dad, Lexa had met a handful of other Nightbloods throughout her life. First there was Nyko, her dad’s best friend who was basically an uncle to her. In primary school there was Caleb who was sweet and kind, but unfortunately moved to another country within a year of their friendship. In high school she met two Nightbloods, twins by the name of Sarah and Helena. Like night and day, they were. The three of them definitely got up to a lot of trouble whenever they were together. Indra was the last Nightblood she’s met, her economics college professor who taught her more about herself then she could have asked for.

It was a late Monday afternoon and Lexa sat in her sister’s café, working away at her laptop. She was a photographer and was sorting out photos from a wedding she covered over the weekend. At the moment Lexa was doing mostly freelance work – giving her time to focus on another passion of hers, writing. She was halfway through writing her first novel about a group of warriors surviving in a post-apocalyptic world.

She had finished sorting out the photos and now was just starring at her empty word document. Lexa wanted to try and write at least 500 words of something, _anything_ to try and beat through the writer’s block she was currently in. She took out her notebook and a pen and started to go through random ideas she’s jotted down in the past to see if anything would spark. But unfortunately, nothing does. Putting down the notebook she mindlessly levitated her pen and started to twirl it just above her finger tips. This was something she did when she was trying to think.

“Writer’s block?”

Lexa looked up and saw Anya placing a cup of coffee onto the table. “Thanks… and yeah. I haven’t written anything in over a week.”

Anya pulled back the chair from across her sister and took a seat. She motioned her head towards the table next to them and smiled.

Lexa turned in the direction Anya was motioning to and saw a little boy staring as twirled her pen in the air. The mother of the boy noticed and apologised but Lexa simply shook her head. “It’s okay,” she smiled. “Is it okay if I show him something?”

“Yeah,” the mother replied. “As long as it’s not disrupting anything you’re doing.”

Lexa smiled. She brought her pen down and turned in her chair to face the small boy. “Hey buddy, what’s your name?”

“Corey,” he mumbled as he chewed on his fingers.

“Well Corey, would you like to see something cool?”

Corey nodded his head in absolute excitement.

Lexa waved him over, “Come closer so you can see.” She watched as Corey hoped off the chair and walked towards her, still looking a little nervous. “What’s your favourite animal?” she asked.

“Jellyfish,” he replied.

Lexa raised an eyebrow, that was not an answer she was expecting. Corey’s mother let out a small chuckle. “He was stung last summer and he’s just been fascinated with them ever since.”

Both Anya and Lexa laugh as well, thinking about how adorable this little kid was. Lexa turned her attention back Corey, cupping her hands closed in front of him. “And your favourite colour?”

Corey thought about it for a moment. “Blue.”

“Okay, now I need you to tap my hands and say ‘blue jellyfish’ three times. You think you can do that?” When Corey nodded, Lexa lifted her hands a little closer to him.

Corey did as he was told, tapping Lexa’s hands as he spoke, “Blue jellyfish, blue jellyfish, blue jellyfish.”

Lexa slowly opened her hands and three blue jellyfishes started to rise up into the air. To explain it in modern terms, they were like holographic 3D pictures. Lexa moved her hands, swirling them slightly to move the jellyfishes around. The tentacles flowed seamlessly through the air, occasionally breaking off but regrowing in a manner of seconds. Lexa moved the jellyfishes the swirl around Corey’s head, prompting him to twirl and follow them.

“Mum, are you seeing this?!” Corey gleamed. His eyes were as wide as they could possibly get, taking in every single second of this.

“I am sweetheart. It’s pretty cool.”

Corey continued to twist and turn, completely lost and amazed at what he was seeing. This was one of Lexa’s favourite moments when it came to sharing her powers. The absolute amazement in Corey’s face sent the warmest feeling throughout her body. It was just unexplainable. Lexa kept the jellyfishes up for a couple of minutes before bringing them all back down to float in front of Corey. “Got to say goodbye to them now.”

Corey waved absently at the jellyfish. “Bye guys.”

Lexa chuckled and flew the jellyfish into Corey’s chest, the images disappearing once they hit the boy’s shirt.

“Thank you for that,” the mother said. “I’m pretty sure you’ve just made his entire day.”

“It’s no problem,” Lexa replied.

“Come on Corey, say goodbye to the nice lady. We have to get home.”

“Bye Jellyfish lady!” Corey waved.

Lexa laughed. “Bye Corey!”

Once the mother and son were out of the café, Anya stood up from the chair. “I’ve got to get back to work. If only your powers could get you out of your writer’s block.”

“Yeah,” Lexa huffed. “If only.”

Lexa returned her attention to her empty word document, twirling her pen in the air and drinking the coffee Anya had given her. It’s about another twenty minutes before something strikes and she’s writing some resemblances of a story.  It was better than nothing at this point.

Lexa gets about forty minutes of solid writing done. She ended up writing a one-shot with her original characters, something that she could possibly use later in her novel. She pushed her laptop forward and rested her elbows onto the table. Levitating her pen once again, she twirled in mindlessly in front of her as she thought about what she was going to do with the rest of her week.

By now the café was fairly empty, given that it was going to close in about 40 minutes. She dropped the pen back down into her hands and opened her notebook, writing down a few notes for later. In her peripheral vision she can see two people taking a seat on the table next to her but she paid very little attention to them.

That is, until one of them screamed, “What the f–”

Lexa immediately looked up to see that someone had accidently spilt a drink on the woman sitting down. Fortunately, it was a chilled drink so the woman wasn’t burnt. But then Lexa looked up to the blonde who had split the drink and there’s an odd pang in her chest. She returned back to writing in her notebook, but fell privy to the conversation that followed.

_“Oh my god Octavia! I’m so sorry, it just flew out of my hands.”_

_“It’s fine, at least it wasn’t a hot drink.”_

_“Still not getting a hang of it?”_

_“No, it’s just… I don’t know, it’s fucking frustrating.”_

_“You’ve been meeting with Indra, right?”_

Lexa’s breath hitched as she heard the familiar name.

“ _Yeah, and she’s definitely helped but I still feel so out of touch with my powers.”_

“That will change,” Lexa whispered without even realising it. She turned to the three friends who all were staring back at her. She kept her eyes on the blonde, eyes as blue as the sky on a cloudless day. “How long?”

“A week…” the blonde replied.

“At first you’ll feel like the powers control you, but you’ll learn how to control them.” She paused and took a deep breath. “It will take time and a lot of patience.”

“And how would you know?” one of the brunettes (the one that didn’t have the drink spilt over her) asked.

Lexa stood up and walked to stand behind the woman the blonde called ‘Octavia.’ The three friends all eyed her curiously as she hovered her hand over Octavia’s shoulder. “May I?” she asked.

Octavia had confused written all over her face but nodded anyway.

Lexa placed her hand on Octavia’s shoulder, over where the drink had spilt. She looked down at the stain and slowly, but surely the stain started to disappear off the white shirt.

“Oh my god,” the brunette gasped.

“You’re a Nightblood,” the blonde whispered.

Lexa nodded and sat back down on the table. “I’m Lexa.” She turned to Octavia, “I’m guessing you’re Octavia?”

Octavia nodded. “Yeah.” She patted her shoulder slightly, “Thanks for cleaning my shirt.”

“No problem,” Lexa replied, turning to look at the other brunette.

“You’re a Nightblood, can’t you use your magic to figure out my name?”

Lexa laughed. “We’re witches, not mind-readers.”

“Ah, fair enough. I’m Raven.”

“Hello, Raven.” Lexa then turned her attention back to the blonde.

“Clarke.”

“I overheard you say that you’ve been seeing Indra?”

Clarke nodded. “I am.”

“She’s tough.”

“Tell me about it,” Clarke laughed. “But I know nothing about being a Nightblood and the last thing I want to do is accidently hurt someone with my powers.”

“How long have you been a Nightblood?” Raven asked Lexa.

“Seventeen years.”

The three friends were quite literally taken back by Lexa’s answer. Octavia cleared her throat, “So that makes you like some sort of sensei, right? At least compared to Clarke here.”

“I guess?” Lexa replied.

Raven almost slammed her hands on the table in excitement, “Can you show us something?”

Clarke nudged Raven in the shoulder, clearly worried that Raven was overstepping.

“It’s okay, Clarke,” Lexa reassured. They share a small smile before Clarke relaxed a little and Lexa turned back to Raven. She thought about what she was going to show for a moment, before deciding to do the same thing she did for Corey just the hour earlier (without the theatrics of course).

Lexa formed a fist with her right hand and then opened it with a series of ravens flying out from her palm. She kept her fingers swaying, guiding the birds to fly around Raven’s head, then to Octavia and Clarke before bringing them back so they danced along her fingertips.

Raven couldn’t take her eyes off of the birds. “Fuck, Clarke. Can you learn how to do that?”

“It’ll be one hell of a party trick,” Octavia commented.

Clarke didn’t respond to either of them – her eyes still fixated on the birds.

“I can teach you,” Lexa offered.

That broke Clarke out of her haze. “What?”

Lexa lowered the birds onto the table, with each of them hopping about. She looked back up to Clarke, “Being a Nightblood is not meant to be a burden. It might feel like it now but that’s just because you don’t know how to control your powers yet, you don’t know what you’re capable of.”

Clarke quirked an eyebrow, “And you want to teach _me_? A complete stranger? How to use her powers?”

Lexa nodded. “We are strangers, yes. But we are same, Clarke. Indra is a great mentor and you should definitely keep seeing her. She will teach you what you need to know, the basics on how to handle your powers, to make sure you don’t accidently hurt anyone…”

“And you?” she breathed.

“Indra is one of the best people I know, but she’s also a college professor… she has a lot on her plate.” She paused. “So I can help you practice what she teaches you. And I can teach you the little things that Indra won’t.”

“Why?”

Lexa tilted her head slightly. “Why what?”

“Why are you offering to help me? I’m sure you have better things to do.”

Lexa sighed a little, but Clarke’s hesitation didn’t surprise her. She understood how weird it must be for Clarke, especially having her powers only triggered a week ago. But what Lexa would have given to have someone show her the ropes. Sure she had her dad, but it was in the things that she taught herself where she struggled a little. “Because, you’re going to need someone who knows what you’re going through.” She looked between Raven and Octavia and gave a small apologetic smile, “And no disrespect to you both, I’m sure you’re supporting Clarke 100%.” She looked back to Clarke, “But I’ve been where you are. I know how you feel.”

“You really remember how you felt seventeen years ago when your powers were triggered?”

Lexa took a deep breath and nodded. “Look, it’s just an offer, you don’t have to take it. Indra will teach you what you need to know.”

Octavia turned to Clarke and placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t hurt to have more people on your side, Clarke.”

Raven nodded as well. “She’s right… plus I kind of want you to learn that trick she just showed us.”

Everyone let out a small laugh. Clarke turned back to look at Lexa and really took in the woman before her. She’s drawn to Lexa’s eyes immediately. Emerald green, piercing but at the same time, soft. They look like they carry the weight of a thousand stories. “I don’t know what I can do for you in return…”

Lexa shook her head. “I don’t need anything from you. I just… I want to help.”

Clarke nodded, “Okay… I mean if you’re sure.”

“I am,” Lexa replied.

Clarke smiled, “I should probably get your number…?

“Smooth,” Raven murmured under her breath.

Clarke kicked Raven under the table, which caused her to yelp at the sudden jab.

Lexa laughed it off. “Check your phone.”

“What?” Raven jumped in. “There’s no way…” She immediately grabbed Clarke’s phone that was sitting on the table to check.

“I’m kidding,” Lexa laughed. “I can’t do that.”

Raven huffed and shook her head slightly. “Your funny, I like you.”

_“Did someone just call my sister funny?”_

Lexa sighed as Anya approached them. “I am funny,” she defended.

“Yeah, and I’m a scientist at NASA,” Anya laughed. “Who are you friends?”

Lexa pointed to Octavia first, “This is Octavia,” she then pointed to Clarke, “Clarke,” and to Raven, “And Raven.”

Anya shook Octavia’s hand first and then Raven’s given that Clarke was taking a sip of the drink. She went to shake Clarke’s hand, but the moment they made contact there’s a strong zap between the two of them. “Ooookay, that was not normal,” Anya commented.

Clarke immediately tucked her hands under the table. “Sorry, I didn’t–”

“It’s okay, Clarke,” Lexa reassured. She turned to Anya, “Clarke’s powers were triggered just last week.”

“Ah, Nightblood,” Anya nodded. “Understandable. Should have seen the shit I went through when Lexa got her powers.”

Lexa looked between the three friends who were all giving her questioning looks. “Anya’s my sister,” she explained.

The three friends nod as it all clicked into place for them. From here Lexa explained that she was going to help Clarke with learning how to manage her powers. Anya gave her two cents to the agreement, definitely agreeing that Clarke would want as much people helping her during this time.

Anya officially closed the café soon after, moving back to re-join the conversation between Lexa, Clarke, Raven and Octavia. The five of them talk and get to know each other a little more – outside the whole Nightblood topic. They talk for about another hour before they Raven, Octavia and Clarke have to leave.

Once Lexa and Clarke exchange numbers, the three friends are set to go. “Just call me whenever you’re free,” Lexa said. “I’m between jobs right now so I’m free most days.”

Clarke nodded. “Thanks Lexa.”

* * *

Later that night Lexa sat in her apartment going through her dad’s old parchment book. It was a book filled with potions and spells that her dad had written down over the time he was a Nightblood. It was “the only spell book you'll ever need” as her dad quoted, basically everything a Nightblood would want in terms to learning how to use their powers.

Anya looked over to her sister, “What new concoction are you brewing up now _Dumbledore_?”

Lexa shot her sister a glare, “You know I can hex you to stop talking, right?”

“I know,” Anya shrugged. “But you won’t.”

“Don’t test me,” Lexa laughed. “But I’m not working on anything. Just trying to figure out the best way to teach Clarke about herself.”

“Has she called you yet?”

Lexa shook her head. “She’s also seeing Indra about her powers.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Lexa confirmed.

“Then why did you offer to help as well? I’m sure Indra can teach Clarke everything she needs to know.”

Lexa closed her parchment notebook and placed it onto the table. “You know I think dad was the best mentor I had – but there were times I wished I had someone else… Another Nightblood to talk to about it all.” She paused, and looked across to her sister. “You were great with it all, Anya. You were always there for me and helped me the best you could. You know that I love you but you're just…”

“Not a Nightblood,” Anya finished.

“Yeah,” Lexa nodded. “You know what I went through, but you don’t _really_ know the extent of it. I made dad keep you away at the beginning because it was just so painful sometimes.”

Anya nodded along. “I remember… There were nights were you would just scream, out of nowhere.”

“Yeah,” Lexa sighed. “I can bet you anything that Clarke’s going to be going through the same right now, so I just… I might have only met her but I can help her through this.”

“It doesn’t hurt that she’s also very easy on the eyes,” Anya smirked.

“Really?” Lexa asked. “I hadn’t even noticed.” (Which was in fact a lie)

Anya scoffed playfully. “I might not have powers but I know when you’re crushing little sis.”

Lexa shook her head and laughed, choosing not to banter back and forth. Anya laughed as well, grinning knowing that she’s won this round. She leaned forward to pick up her tea mug from the table to take a sip. But when the cold tea touches her lips, she sighed a little. She held up the cup towards her sister, “Lex.”

Without being asked Lexa carefully levitated the tea mug through the air and into her hands. Cupping her around the mug she started to feel her hands warming as they warmed the drink as well. Once the tea was just hot enough to drink she sent the mug back to her sister.

“Lexa Woods, _expert tea warmer_ ,” Anya snickered.

Lexa let out a small laugh, “I’ll be sure to update my resume with that.”

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Lexa’s phone lit up her room. She squirmed in bed for a minute before realising that someone was calling her. She groaned, rolling in her bed over to her bedside table.

_3:07am_

_Clarke Griffin calling._

Lexa took her phone and rolled back onto her back. She answered the call, “Clarke, I know I said to call whenever but I didn’t mean in the middle of the night.”

_“Lexa…”_

The moment Lexa heard Clarke’s voice she woke up completely. The voice on the other end was not the same that she had heard earlier in the day. It was cracked, laced with fear, quiet and undoubtedly the voice of someone in pain. “Clarke, what is it?”

“ _It hurts– everything– I can’t get it to stop. I didn’t know who else to call, it’s been manageable the other nights but– UHhhhh.”_

Lexa immediately got out of bed, “Where are you Clarke? I’m coming.”

“ _I didn’t want to wake up Raven or Octavia so I got in the car and drove. I’m in the car park at Polis station.”_

As Clarke spoke Lexa put on her jumper as used her powers to fly her wallet, phone and car keys into her bag. “I live just a couple of minutes away Clarke, I’ll be there soon.”

“ _It hurts, Lexa.”_

Lexa ran out of her room, “I know. I know, just breathe and listen to my voice. I’m here.” The light switched opened and she started to go through her bookshelf, grabbing various little jars that where there and a bottle of water. When she had everything she needed she quietly left her apartment and made her way to her car. “You still there, Clarke?”

“ _Yeah.”_

“I’m on my way. Just breathe, focus on anything but the pain.”

“ _I don’t know if I can do that.”_

Lexa got into the car and put her phone of loud speaker. She started the car and she was off towards Polis station. Clarke’s breathing became more rapid and uneven. “Close your eyes,” Lexa whispered. She split her focus between driving and the voice on the other end of the call, doing what she can to calm Clarke down. “What do you see?”

“ _I see… the birds that you showed us at the café.”_

“Good,” Lexa replied, it’s exactly what she was hoping Clarke would see. She focused her thoughts on Clarke again, “What are the birds doing now?” It went quiet between them for a moment with Clarke’s breathing slightly steadying.

_“I don’t know… I can’t follow… the pain I can’t…”_

“It’s okay, you’re okay, Clarke. Take a deep breath and try to follow them.” Another silence fell between them as Lexa took the final turn towards the station.

“ _They’re flying into a meadow… I see mountains… a lake…”_

“Clarke,” Lexa whispered, “I’m pulling into the car park now, where did you park?”

_“Towards the back, just under one of the street lights. It’s a red car.”_

Lexa drove slowly throughout the car park, eventually reaching the back and spotting the red car. “I see you, I’m here.” Lexa pulled up right next to Clarke’s car and shut her engine off. She got out of her car and walked over the driver’s side of the red car. The windows were tinted so she couldn’t see Clarke, so she tapped on the window gently.

The door opened moments later and there’s a pang in Lexa’s heart as she sees Clarke. Clarke who was still in her PJ’s, eyes red and sore from the crying, looking defeated as ever. Lexa immediately placed her hand on Clarke’s back, rubbing soothing patterns. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

“It hurts, everywhere,” Clarke cried. “It hasn’t _this_ much, what’s happening?”

“Come, let’s sit in the back seat. I have something that will help.”

Clarke nodded and let herself be lead out of the driver’s seat and into the back seat. They sit across from each other and Clarke watched as Lexa rummaged through her bag. “My hands… they’re hot one minute and cold the next. And it’s just not my hands, I feel it everywhere as if it’s ice or lava flowing through my veins.”

“It’s your body adjusting to whatever the Nightblood in you is doing,” Lexa explained. She took out a water bottle from her bag and unscrewed the lid. She took out one of the jars from her bag and tipped some of the contents into the bottle.

“What’s that?”

“Burnt sage,” Lexa replied. She took out two other jars and showed Clarke, “Lavender and rosemary too. It’s a potion mix that should help with the pain.”

Clarke nodded and kept on watching Lexa, trying to focus on anything other than the pain she was feeling. She watched as Lexa tipped a bit of the other two jars into the bottle before closing it and giving it a good shake.

“Give me your hands,” Lexa instructed. She poured just a bit of the potion into Clarke’s hard, chanting a quiet spell. She closed the bottle and put it to the side, returning to rub the potion further in Clarke’s hand.

Clarke couldn’t do anything but watch. Lexa’s hands are slightly callus against her own as they moved up and around her own hands. Clarke looked down to their hands and saw a slightly purple smoke rising as Lexa continued to chant quiet murmurs. The smoke rose high enough for her to smell; _lavender._

Lexa continued to rub the potion into Clarke’s hands. She poured a little more of it into a couple of minutes later before returning to give Clarke’s hand a soothing massage. “This will happen less and less the more you learn to control your powers,” Lexa whispered. “I don’t know how much you know about Nightbloods – but there isn’t a lot of answers for how and why certain things happen to us.”

Clarke nodded with her eyes close. “Sorry for calling you out here in the middle of the night.”

“Don’t be,” Lexa replied. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better,” Clarke answered. “But I have this raging headache, it feels like sharp jolts of electricity.”

Lexa stopped rubbing Clarke’s hands. “The potion won’t help with that, but I can try something.”

Clarke nodded, “Okay…”

Lexa leaned forward slightly, placing one hand on Clarke’s shoulder and the other moving to softly place her index and middle finger on Clarke’s temple. “Just focus on me, okay?” Clarke nodded. “Focus on sending those jolts to me.”

Clarke’s eyes widen. “What? Wouldn’t that mean you get my headache? Lexa, no–”

“It’s okay,” Lexa reassured. “I know how to minimise my own pain, whereas you don’t yet. It’s okay, trust me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Clarke nodded. The pain was just getting worse by the second. She focused into the green eyes before her. She saw the rainforest, even in the still of the night, they were so green. Without realising it they drifted a little closer together as Clarke’s gaze flickered down to Lexa’s lips just for a second. When she looked back up into the green eyes she saw a flash cross the pupils and her headache slowly receded.

They don’t move a part just yet, still very aware that they were closer. “Better now?” Lexa breathed.

“Yeah…”

Lexa slowly moved back, breaking their contact. She grabbed the bottle and gave it to Clarke, “Rub this into your hands if you feel the pain again. It’s already enchanted so you won’t need to chant anything. But I’ll teach you the spell later.”

Clarke smiled. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“How far do you live?”

“About fifteen minutes away. I’ll be fine, I can get home, you’ve done more than enough for me tonight.”

Lexa shook her head. “Come sleep at my place tonight, I’ll bring you back here in the morning to get your car.”

“Lexa–”

“Or I can drop you off at home,” Lexa added. “Either way, you’re not driving by yourself.”

Clarke sighed, “Okay, I’ll crash on your couch…”

Lexa smiled and packed her bag. “Let’s go,” she said. They leave Clarke’s car and hop into Lexa’s. The drive is silent, the only sound echoing through the car being the sound of both of them breathing. When they get back to Lexa’s apartment, she leads them into the elevator and up to the fourth floor.

Clarke entered the apartment wearily. She was overcome by sheer exhaustion and wanted nothing more than to collapse onto any surface to sleep.

“This way,” Lexa whispered.

Clarke followed Lexa past the kitchen and living room and down towards the short hallway. She watched as Lexa opened the door on the left, leading them into what she could only assume to be Lexa’s bedroom. Clarke came to a stop two steps in the room, “Lexa, I can’t take your bed. The couch is fine.”

“No,” Lexa replied. “You need a comfortable sleep after what you just went through. So just take the bed.”

“Lexa–”

Lexa lifted her hand to stop Clarke from talking. “It’s fine, Clarke.” She walked around Clarke and towards the door, pulling it shut as she sent another small and reassuring smile. “Sleep. If you need the bathroom it’s just behind me,” she pointed to the door across from them, “And I’ll just be outside if you need anything.”

Clarke moved to sit on the bed and looked back up to Lexa. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Lexa smiled. She closed the door quietly and made her way into the living room. She stopped by the closest hallway and took out a spare blanket before making herself comfortable on the couch. She found it a little hard to fall asleep, so she threw some holographic stars and planets around the room, making it look as if she was in the middle of space. Eventually she managed to fall sleep, the last thing on her mind being the sleeping Nightblood in her room.

* * *

Lexa woke up to Anya nudging her. “What the fuck are you doing out here?” she asked.

“Shh,” Lexa mumbled. She brought her hands to rub her eyes, “Clarke’s asleep in my room.”

“Clarke? Nightblood Clarke?”

“No, Clarke from pharmacy down the street,” Lexa replied in a dead flat tone.

“Oh ha-ha, you’re funny.” Anya poked her sister, causing her to jolt straight up. “Now you going to tell me why she’s in your room or should I go in and ask her myself?”

Lexa sat up and stretched her arms over head. “She called me at like 3 and she was in pain.”

“Like the screaming pains you use to get?”

Lexa nodded. “So I went to her… she wasn’t at home she had driven to Polis station and I took the remedy to her.” She paused as Anya took a seat on the other end of the couch. “She came down from the pain but I wasn’t going to let her drive home by herself.”

Anya nodded. “And she was okay after?”

“I think so. She seemed pretty tired when we got back so I’m sure she’ll be asleep for another couple of hours.”

“Okay,” Anya replied. “Breakfast, _Potter_?”

Lexa groaned at the nickname again. “Coffee, first.”

Anya left for work shortly after breakfast. It was just past 8 and fortunately Lexa didn’t have anything planned for the day. So while she waited for Clarke to wake up, she started to reorganise her bookshelf of potion ingredients. The bookshelf contained ingredients which were packed away in different size jars, pre-made potions, crystals, candles and other little bits and pieces that were useful when making potions.

By 10am she’s sitting at her dining table, working on her novel as she found some motivation to write. She uses her powers to make herself a cup of tea as she types away at her laptop. Once a tea bag is placed into the water, Lexa slowly floated the mug to herself.

Clarke doesn’t wake up till 11am, slowly emerging from Lexa’s bedroom.

“Morning,” Lexa smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“A lot better,” Clarke replied.

“Would you like some breakfast?”

Clarke nodded. “Can I borrow your phone? I had a couple of missed calls from Raven and just as I was going to call her back my phone died.”

Lexa turned in her chair to see her phone on the couch where she was sleeping. With one small flick of her hand, her phone flies across the room, stopping right in front of Clarke.

Clarke smiled, “Thank you. I’ll just be a minute.”

“Take as long as you need,” Lexa replied. She watched as Clarke retreated back to her room, closing the door behind her. Lexa got up and went to reheat some of the leftover breakfast for Clarke. Putting the plate of scrambled eggs and bacon into the microwave, she also popped two slices of bread into the toaster before making her way back to her laptop.

Clarke came back out about five minutes later, heading into the bathroom first before walking into the dining room. Lexa looked up from her laptop, “There’s a plate in the microwave, toast in the toaster and coffee if you want it. Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” Clarke replied. She moved about her kitchen, grabbing her food and instead just pouring herself a glass of water before joining Lexa on the dining room table. “I’m not disrupting your day am I?”

Lexa turned to Clarke, “No,” she smiled. “Did you need to be somewhere today?”

Clarke shook her head slightly, “I’m meant to be meeting Indra at 4.”

“Okay, just let me know when you want to go and I’ll drive you back to get your car.”

They fall into a comfortable silence as Clarke enjoyed her breakfast and Lexa worked away at her laptop. There were so many things that Clarke wanted to ask, but she honestly didn’t know where to start. About twenty minutes later she’s finished with the food on her plate. “What are you working on?” she asked.

“I’m a part time writer,” Lexa replied. She finished typing the sentence she was on and closed her laptop screen. “Working on my first novel.”

“Oh that’s cool!”

“Yeah,” Lexa laughed. “It would be a lot cooler if I _actually_ was writing it. Write now it’s just a lot of random drabbles, nothing quite coherent yet.”

“Can I ask what it’s about?”

“How about I show you?” Clarke eyes widen as she nodded excitedly. Lexa returned the smile and started to sway her hands in front of her. Images of faceless warriors appeared in the space between them, “It’s about a group of post-apocalyptic warriors trying to stop an impending war.” Lexa moved the images so that there were a few distinct groups of people. “There are 12 clans, all fighting for control. But my protagonist…” Lexa trailed off, bringing the images of the warriors to meld into one single warrior, faceless, but with the distinct war paint around her eyes, “Is trying to bring the 12 clans together, to form a coalition.”

“Is she successful?”

The images between them faded away, letting green eyes lock with blue clearly. Lexa smiled, “Well you’re just going to have to read it to find out.”

“Oh man,” Clarke groaned. “I could totally get on board with that story.”

“I’ll be sure to send you a copy when it’s published.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Clarke winked.

“Would you like me to drive you back to the station?” Lexa asked.

Clarke nodded. “That would be great.”

Within ten minutes they’re on their way back to Polis station. They talk about their week and organise a time to meet up the following morning so that Lexa could help Clarke practice whatever Indra had taught her in their afternoon session. Lexa pulled right next to Clarke’s car and go out as well. She leaned against her car as she watched Clarke walk around and towards her.

“Thank you again, for everything,” Clarke smiled. “Really, I don’t know what I’d do without you at this point.”

“Anytime, Clarke,” Lexa replied honestly. “Tell Indra what happened, she’ll be able to give you some pointers too. Do you remember what I put into the potion?”

Clarke nodded. “Lavender, rosemary and sage.”

“ _Burnt_ sage,” Lexa clarified. “That’s important and Indra will have my head if she thinks I made it wrong.”

Clarke laughed. “Burnt sage,” she repeated. “I won’t forget.”

Lexa turned on her heel and opened her car door, “Well, have a good day. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Clarke confirmed. She watched as Lexa was just about to get into her car, but then quickly placed her hand on Lexa’s shoulder. “Wait.”

Lexa turned around but didn’t say anything. Just a second later she was being pulled into a hug, she’s tense at first and for a little longer than normal because Clarke then let out a small chuckle. “Are you telling me witches don’t hug?”

Lexa laughed and relaxed. She wrapped her arms around Clarke’s waist and smiled into the hug. Being a Nightblood there was a lot of things that were unexplainable to her, and the feeling she got when she hugged Clarke was another one of those unexplainable things.

The hug lasted a little longer than a normal hug, but neither of them seem to care. When they do break away, Clarke held the door open for Lexa and waited for her to get it. Once Lexa was in Clarke smiled, “Bye.”

“Bye,” Lexa replied.

* * *

The following morning, Lexa is once again working on her novel as she waited for Clarke. The plan for today was to go what Clarke learnt with Indra the day before and answer any questions Clarke may have. It was approaching 11am and Clarke was due to arrive any moment for their ‘lesson.’

Lexa had texted Clarke earlier in the morning asking if she had any more pain spasm during the night the night. And whilst Clarke did – it was nowhere near as bad the other night. The potion Lexa gave her had worked wonders.

When her door bell goes off, Lexa made her way to let Clarke in. “Hi,” she greeted as she stepped to the side.

Clarke walked in with a smile of her face. “Hey, how was your morning?”

“Good,” Lexa replied, closing the door and locking it. “Worked more on my novel. How was yours?”

Clarke made her way to the dining table, taking a seat just opposite where Lexa’s stuff was set up. “Good. My parents came by to check up on me and well…” Clarke trailed off.

“Well…?” Lexa repeated.

“I may have told them about you, and they’d like to meet you.”

“Me?”

Clarke nodded. “They’re just worried. I’m the first Nightblood of the family – they really don’t know what to expect.”

Lexa took a seat at the dining table, prompting Clarke to do the same. “How did you get touch with Indra then?” Lexa asked.

“My dad is a lecturer at the university too.”

“Ah,” Lexa breathed. “That makes sense… So I figured today we could go over any questions you might have and then I’ll show you some basic potions.”

Clarke nodded. “That sounds good.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a notebook, “I actually wrote down some things that I didn’t get with Indra yesterday, could you clarify a few things for me?”

Lexa nodded. “Of course.”

So for the next hour Lexa answered the questions Clarke had. They go over the things that had Clarke confused, eventually making sense of most of them. After that Lexa talked about the history of Nightbloods and how no one really knows the full story. She pulled up some old research papers, showing what some findings that were sound and some that weren’t.

Clarke tried to take in as much as she could. It was a lot of information to take in one go, but thankfully the way Lexa explained everything made it easy to understand. With Indra she was a little intimidated to ask questions – but with Lexa it was the complete opposite. She found herself interrupting Lexa more times that she could count, definitely feeling as if she was starting to annoy the woman.

“You’re not, Clarke,” Lexa laughed. “I told you I was here to teach you everything you need to know about being a Nightblood. However stupid you may think a question is, I can assure you, I’ve probably already asked it myself.”

What surprised Clarke was that she believed Lexa. Lexa didn’t make her feel bad for asking a lot of questions, in fact she encouraged it more so than not. This made Clarke feel really comfortable about becoming a Nightblood.

A little later, Lexa is showing Clarke her potions bookshelf. She explained the basics of potions, how they’re made, how they’re stored and enchanted. She talked about the different ingredients she had, many of the them flowers, spices, herbs and a few speciality ingredients. There’s a potions store about an hour away and Lexa promises to take Clarke there soon.

Lexa grabbed her parchment notebook and guided them to sit on the couch. Once they were seated she handed the book to Clarke. “It was my dad’s. He was a Nightblood too and wrote down all the potions he ever used and created in here.”

Clarke took the book. It was old and worn out so she handled it very carefully. She traced the intricate pattern on cover, “I’m sorry.”

Lexa raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“You said ‘was a Nightblood’. I’m sorry that he’s gone.”

“Oh!” Lexa yelled. “He’s not… he’s not dead.” She paused to scratch her head slightly. “You haven’t been told about NB yet, have you?”

Clarke shook her head. “What’s NB?” she asked.

“It’s nothing good,” Lexa revealed. “I don’t want to scare you, but there is no easy way to explain this.”

“Just tell me, Lexa.”

“NB is a disease Nightbloods can get. It strips us of our powers and… there’s no cure.” Lexa paused and took a deep breath. “For some that’s all it does, takes away their powers. But for others, NB can make them really sick. It’s like a cancer.”

“And your dad?” Clarke whispered.

“He’s not sick,” Lexa replied. “Just no longer a Nightblood. He’s currently travelling with his girlfriend.”

Clarke smiled. She pointed at the book, “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” Lexa watched as Clarke opened the book, tracing her fingers as she read through the potions. “Let me know if there’s a potion in there if you want to try out.”

Clarke flipped through the pages, “There’s a lot in here.”

“Yeah, he was a Nightblood for 53 years.”

“Any other Nightbloods in your family?” Clarke asked.

Lexa shook her head. “Just me now.”

For the next hour they talk potions. Clarke finds a potion in the book that she would love to try – a potion that helps people remember where they’ve left something they’ve lost. Lexa guided them back to her bookshelf and guided Clarke on how to make the potion. She took out her mortar and pestle and read out the ingredients as they looked for the right jars on the shelf. They found mint, mistletoe, baby breath flowers and salt. They were only missing one ingredient.

“No acetoin?” Clarke asked.

Lexa ran her finger along the chemicals section of her bookshelf. “No, it doesn’t seem like I have any left. But…”

“But…”

Lexa didn’t respond to Clarke, but jogged over to her kitchen. She opened one of her cupboards, looking for something in particular. “Ah-ha!” she yelled. She grabbed a box and returned to Clarke, placing it next to the other ingredients.

Clarke picked up the box, “Food colouring?”

“It’s got acetoin in it,” Lexa clarified.

“And the other things in this won’t affect the potion?”

Lexa shook her head. “The potion will only extract the acetoin, everything else in the food die will just evaporate when we heat it up.”

“Oh, okay.” Clarke smiled, “Can I pick the colour?”

Lexa laughed. “Of course.”

Clarke read the book and half followed Lexa’s instructions. She crushed up the ingredients as Lexa explained the potion and process into further detail. Half an hour later and Lexa is telling her that it’s a success. Clarke immediately jumped into Lexa’s arms, pulling the women into a hug from the sheer enjoyment she was feeling. “Sorry,” she laughed as she broke away from the hug. Lexa simply laughed and reassured her that it was okay. Clarke was going to use this potion for Raven. Raven was always losing her phone, so with this potion it would always help her remember where she left it last.

“Is there anything else you wanted to do today?” Lexa asked.

“I was wondering if I could practice with my wand for a bit?”

Lexa nodded. “Of course.”

They move to sit back on the couch, with Clarke going through her bag and getting her wand. Indra took Clarke to buy her wand the first time they met. Indra explained that wands were necessary for all new Nightbloods. They helped control powers, something that was definitely needed in early Nightblood life. “Do you still use yours?” Clarke asked.

Lexa turned back to her bookshelf, eyeing the top shelf. She flicked her fingers and within seconds her wand was flying towards her. “Not really,” she replied, catching her wand. “I actually feel a lot more comfortable without it. But it’s different for everyone.” She handed her wand over to Clarke.

Clarke took it and put it side by side with hers. They were similar except that her one was a dark wooden brown whilst Lexa’s was pitch black.

“Why don’t you try bringing the TV remote to us?” Lexa asked.

Clarke looked for the remote and saw that it was just under the TV, about 10 feet away. She nodded and let out a small sigh. Placing Lexa’s wand down she pointed her own towards the remote. She focused and a few seconds later the remote is moving slightly.

“Good start,” Lexa commented. “Now focus on bringing it closer, even if it just drabbles across the floor.”

Clarke nodded and tried to do what Lexa said. The remote bounced on the floor and slowly towards them. But then suddenly it flies up and hits the roof rather harshly before falling flat on the ground. “Shit!” Clarke yelled, “Sorry.”

Lexa bit her bottom lip, trying to stifle her laughter.

Clarke sighed, “It’s not funny, Lexa.”

“Kind of is,” Lexa replied. “But don’t worry, try again.”

“I’m going to break everything in your apartment.”

Lexa let out a small chuckle. “It’s okay, I’m a witch I can fix it.”

That caused Clarke to laugh. She took a few deep breaths before trying again. She pointed her wand towards the remote, focusing on trying to levitate it towards her. It bounces along to ground stupidly before flying out of control towards the window. “Shit!” Clarke yelled.

But fortunately Lexa’s quick instincts stopped the remote from smashing through the window. She gave a small flick of her fingers and settled the remote down on the ground. “Got it,” Lexa smiled.

“I’m never going to get this,” Clarke whined. She brought her hands up to her face.

“You will,” Lexa reassured. “Try again.”

“Why?”

Lexa reached forward and gave Clarke’s hand a small squeeze. She looked up into the blue eyes before her and offered another reassuring smile. “The first few times I practiced levitation it was with a _single_ ping pong ball and I accidently turned our living room into a ball pit filled with thousands of them.”

Clarke fell into a fit of laughter. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Lexa nodded. “You can ask Anya about it, she loved that afternoon.”

“I bet.”

Lexa let go of Clarke’s hand, “Try again.”

Clarke nodded and lifted her wand. Focusing on the remote with everything she’s got, she tries again. And again. And again. The remote flies to the left and to the right, everywhere basically, but never towards her. But she doesn’t give up. With Lexa’s constant reassurance and support Clarke is determined to get this right. That is until Clarke accidently causes the remote to combust.

Lexa managed to contain the minor explosion into a bubble, an odd burst of red and black smoke forming in the centre of the room. She turned to Clarke, a little bit in shock, “Well that was… unexpected.”

Clarke grit her teeth, “Any chance you can fix that?” Lexa shook her head and Clarke sighed. “I’m so sorry, I’ll buy you another remote.”

“It’s fine,” Lexa laughed. “Really.”

“Raven’s going to love this.”

“I have an idea.” Lexa stood up and walked towards the closet in the hallway. She moved a couple of boxes until she found what she was looking for. She sent the box to float by the door whilst returning to Clarke. “Come with me,” she smiled.

Lexa guided them out of her apartment and towards the stairwell. With the box floating just in front of them they made their way towards the stairwell and started going up. They walk up two flight of stairs before Lexa opened the door and they were on the roof of the building.

“What are we doing up here?” Clarke asked.

“Helping you,” Lexa replied. She lowered the box and swayed her fingers so that the lid opened.

Clarke watched as various plastic balls rose from the box. She smiled, “You going to create a ball pit for me too?” she laughed.

“I can if you want,” Lexa chuckled. “But I figured it’s safer to practice up her and with plastic balls for now.”

Clarke nodded. “Good idea.”

Lexa lowered her hands to lower the balls back into the box. “You want to give it another shot?”

“Yeah.” Clarke lifted her one and focused on the box. The box shook a little, but that’s all it did. She kept trying though, occasionally she’d able to levitate a ball or two but they would fall short mere seconds later. Over about twenty minutes she managed a little better. She has successfully managed to float a blue plastic ball into the air was controlling it the best she could.

Lexa grinned, noticing how happy Clarke looked in the moment. “You’re a fast learner.”

“I have a good teacher,” Clarke complimented. But as she returned her focus back to the ball, it fell back into the box with a soft thud. Clarke dropped her wand and huffed, “This is useless.”

Lexa shook her head, “No it’s not.” She stepped closer to Clarke, “You’ve improved a lot in the past few hours. But you cannot expect to learn this in a day, Clarke.”

“I know,” Clarke sighed. “It’s just frustrating.”

Lexa nodded. “I know the feeling, but you know the classic saying; practice makes perfect.” She moved to stand behind Clarke and gently placed her hand over the hand that was holding the wand. Her head was resting just slightly over Clarke’s shoulder as she guided Clarke’s hand up, “Let me help.”

Clarke swallowed the lump in her throat as she tried to settle the pounding in her chest. Lexa’s hand on hers sent the warmest feeling throughout her body and she found her breathing become a little unsteady. She let Lexa guide her wand up so that it was pointing up at the box again.

Lexa steadied herself behind Clarke, one hand on Clarke’s and the other on Clarke’s shoulder. “Now,” she whispered, “Focus not on the box, but on what’s inside it.”

Clarke felt the lump only grow in her throat, so she nodded instead. Her hand started to shake against Lexa’s. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s okay,” Lexa replied. She gave Clarke’s hands a small squeeze to settle the shaking. When it stopped she relaxed her grip. “Focus on one ball,” she instructed. “A blue one.”

“Okay,” Clarke breathed. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Opening them again she did as Lexa instructed and focused on a single blue ball in the box. She felt Lexa’s finer tips caress her own slightly, and it made her heart flutter. A few seconds later a blue ball rose from the box and levitated just where it was.

“Good,” Lexa whispered. “Now just bring it here.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

Lexa let out a small chuckle, finding herself pressing her lips against Clarke’s shoulder. She stills for a moment, a little surprised by her actions before continuing. “You’re controlling the ball, Clarke. If you want it to come to you, just make it come to you.”

Clarke huffed. “If I accidently make the ball combust it’s not my fault, okay?”

“Okay,” Lexa agreed with a grin. “It’s not your fault.”

With a small flick of her wand the ball started to float towards them. Clarke could barely believe it, it was working, she was doing it. When the ball came to a stop just in front of them, Clarke couldn’t wipe the grin off her face.

Lexa slowly peeled herself away from Clarke. “You did it,” she smiled.

Clarke kept her wand pointed at the ball, but with her free hand brought her fingertips to just under it. She felt it, the waves of energy orbiting around the ball that held it up. This was the first time she’s really felt _in control_ of her powers and it was indescribable. She’s snapped out of her slight haze as the ball flies back into the box without warning.

“Again,” Lexa grinned.

So they spend the next hour or so up on the roof. Fortunately, everything just seemed to click into place from here. Clarke was levitating the balls seamlessly, sending them in all directions whilst being able to maintain control. And even managed to levitate and fly multiple balls at any one time.

As the sun started to set, the two of them found themselves sitting at the edge of the roof as they dangled their feet over the edge. They both just took in the sight before them as they enjoy the silence. A flock of birds flew past them, dancing about as the sun set lower with every minute. From the roof they could see street lights flicking on and the slow build of traffic as everyone started to make their way back home.

“Thanks for today,” Clarke breathed.

Lexa turned to Clarke and smiled. “You don’t have to thank me.”

Clarke shook her head. “I do. We were practically strangers when I called you in the middle of the night and you came to my rescue,” she smiled. “And today, you’ve really made me feel like I was in control of my powers. And I know, I know still have a long way to go but you are… you’re like a very calming factor in the midst of the chaos that I am.”

“You’re not a chaos, Clarke.”

“I blew up your remote,” Clarke argued.

Lexa laughed. “Okay, well you have a point there.” The two of them remained staring at each other, smiles evident as they both let out a small laugh. “Well then, you are a very welcome chaos into my life, Clarke.”  Lexa started to lean in slowly, her lips just a breath apart from Clarke’s. She makes no further move though, just hoping a praying that Clarke would close the distance between them.

The moment Lexa started to lean in, Clarke’s had no control over how fast her heart was beating. Lexa’s breath is warm against her own and Clarke takes a moment to take it all in. She brought up her right hand to snake around Lexa’s neck and pulled the woman in, to close the distance between them.

The kiss remains soft and delicate, an innocent exploration as they move against each other. There is no rush or urgency, an equal push and pull from both sides. Lexa broke the kiss momentarily, brushing her nose over Clarke’s, allowing them to catch their breaths before pressing their lips together again. But when their lips meet again, something sparks between them. Like literally, an actual spark that zaps through their lips.

Clarke pulled back slightly, resting her forehead against Lexa’s. “That was me, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Lexa breathed.

“A welcome chaos you say?”

Lexa let out a small chuckle, surging forward to place one last chaste kiss on the lips before her. “Definitely a welcome chaos.”

Clarke sighed, feeling absolutely content in the moment. “I should go, I have a dinner with Raven and Octavia.”

Lexa nodded, she stood up as offered her hand to Clarke. When they were both standing up Lexa asked, “How are you with heights?”

“Well I was just dangling my feet over the edge of the building, so I’d say I’m okay with it.”

“Want to get back to my apartment the fun way?”

“What?” Clarke asked, confused. But then she realised what Lexa meant only a few moments later. Lexa had levitated off the ground and was currently floating over the edge of the building. “Lexa!”

Lexa remained floating in the air like it wasn’t a big deal. “My window is open, we’ll be down in less than five seconds.”

“You’re crazy, you know that?”

Lexa held out her hand. “Do you trust me?”

“I do,” Clarke replied honestly. “But,” she took a step back off the ledge, “I don’t trust me, yet.”

“I trust you.” Lexa paused and lowered herself back down until she had both her feet on the roof again. “But I can respect that. It’s good that you’re listening to your instincts.”

“You’ll teach me how to levitate, right?”

Lexa nodded as they both made their way back towards the door. “Eventually. But there’s a lot you need to learn before that.”

“Yes, _sensei_ ,” Clarke smiled. Without being asked she pulled out her wand and successfully rose the box off the ground, bringing it along as they walked back to Lexa’s apartment. Once back at the apartment Clarke gathered her belongings.

“When’s your next meeting with Indra?”

Clarke slung her handbag over her shoulder and pulled out her phone. She swiped at the screen for a few seconds before locking it and putting it back in her bag. “Friday at 12.”

“Would you like another lesson after that?” Lexa asked.

“Well I have a group meeting on Saturday and I don’t know how long that will take… Sunday is my mum’s birthday… Monday I have class–”

“Oh, what do you study?” Lexa asked again.

“Teaching,” Clarke smiled. “Primary school.”

“That’s cool, I loved primary school,” Lexa replied lamely. “Um, how about the same time next week?”

Clarke scratched her head and just made sure she didn’t already have plans. She smiled, “That would be great.” She stepped towards Lexa nervously, placing a soft kiss on Lexa’s cheek. “See you then.”

Lexa cleared her throat the best she could. “Bye,” she whispered. She watched as Clarke opened the door and waved a small goodbye before stepping out. As Lexa walked over the door to lock it, there’s a light tapping coming from the other side. She opened the door to and saw Clarke standing there, fidgeting from side to side. “Did you forget something?”

“No… I mean yeah, kind of.” Lexa raised an eyebrow. “I forgot to ask you something.”

“Oh,” Lexa smiled. “Go ahead.”

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” Clarke blurted. “And I totally understand if you say _no,_ because you don’t want to complicate this arrangement we have but I think you’re really cool and would love to get to know you out of this whole Nightblood–”

“Yes,” Lexa cut in, grinning at Clarke’s rambling.

“Really?”

Lexa laughed. “Why do you sound so surprised? We’re you expecting a different answer?”

“I–” Clarke stopped. “I don’t know to be honest. It’s been a while since I’ve asked someone on a date and I think I’m just really nervous. You make me really nervous.”

Lexa raised an eyebrow, “Me? I make you nervous?”

Clarke nodded. “You’re just… You’re very… you know what? I’m just going to shut up now before you regret saying yes to the date.” Lexa laughed which lets Clarke relax a little. “Saturday night?”

“I can do Saturday.”

“Cool,” Clarke grinned. “Um, I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“See you then.”

“Bye.” Clarke offered one final smile before turning to her left and walking away.

“Uhh, Clarke?” Lexa called out. “Wrong way.”

Clarke immediately turned on her heels and started walking in the opposite direction. “Got cha. Bye Lexa.”

“Bye, Clarke,” Lexa chuckled. She locked the door before returning to the dining table where her laptop still remained. Checking her phone, she saw a couple messages from her sister saying that she’d be bringing home dinner so Lexa didn’t need to worry about making dinner. She then opened up her messages to send Clarke a quick text.

 **Lexa Woods 5:23PM  
** Let me know when you’re home safely?

Clarke texts her about twenty minutes later, letting her know that she’s home safety. And about ten minutes after that Anya’s home and they’re setting up dinner in front of the TV, so they could catch up on the latest episode of Orphan Black. They actually don’t end up eating till halfway through the episode, not wanting to miss anything important. Once the episode is over, Anya threw her hands up in the air, “BISEXUAL SARAH MANNING!” she yelled. The two sisters share a quick hi-5 before returning to their food. “So how was your first lesson with Clarke, _Professor Mcgonagall_?”

Lexa rolled her eyes. She nodded as she finished chewing her food. “It was… as expected, kind of.”

“What the hell does that meant?”

“Well I told her as much as I could about Nightbloods. She also had a couple of questions from her meeting with Indra so we talked about those.” She paused and took another bite of her food. “Taught her a little about potions and we made one, the one I used on your keys so that you’d always know where they are.”

“Best thing you’ve ever done for me,” Anya laughed. “Oh actually… second best maybe, the first would definitely be your ability to reheat my tea when it’s cold.”

Lexa shook her head and chuckled. “Glad to know I can be of service.”

“That’s all you guys did?”

“No,” Lexa replied. “We practiced levitating things most of the afternoon.”

“How did that go?”

“By the end of the afternoon she’s got that skill pretty much down. Except… she kind of blew up our remote in the process.”

“Seriously?” Anya exclaimed.

“Yeah, it like disintegrated into black and red smoke. It was weird.”

Anya started to clear their food, noticing that Lexa was also done eating. “You’re paying for a new remote.”

“I’ll order us a new one tonight,” Lexa laughed.

After the food is cleared and the dishes are cleaned both Anya and Lexa return back to the living room. Anya laid across one couch whilst on her phone whilst Lexa sat up on another, typing away her laptop. Lexa was re-reading her latest complete chapter when she decided to tell Anya something that she’s been meaning to tell her for a while.

Lexa pointed to the light switch and with a little flick of her fingers the lights in the room turn off. She then closed the TV and floated her laptop onto the dining room table.

“What are you doing?” Anya asked.

Lexa swirled her hands as white smoke started to fill the living room.

Anya put down her phone and sat up. She watched as a figure started to rise from the smoke and a few moments later she realised who it was. It was her, dressed in war gear and war paint. “Is that… me?”

Lexa nodded. “It’s you in my novel.”

“I’m in your novel?”

“Yeah,” Lexa smiled. “I wanted to establish the character before I told you... So she was the Commander’s mentor before she was chosen to lead.” Lexa changed the image in the middle of the room so that Anya’s character was doing various training exercises with another character. “You taught the Commander how to fight and how to lead. You’re each other’s best friends even if they’re both too stubborn at admit it,” Lexa grinned.

“ _Was_ _?_ God, please don’t tell me I die in your novel.”

“What?” Lexa asked. “Of course not, what type of shitty writing would that be. You’ll always be the Commander’s mentor, but when she’s called to lead that title _technically_ breaks.”

“Oh thank god,” Anya laughed. She took her eyes off the smoke and looked to her sister, “Thank you for including me in your novel.”

Lexa gave a slight nod and the two of them return to watch the image in the middle of the room. Lexa explained a little more of the character’s back story, giving Anya a good scope of the overall picture. But then the image suddenly shifted to just the Commander and someone else.

“What’s happening?” Anya asked. “Who’s that?”

“I have no clue…” Lexa whispered. She was beyond confused at this point because whatever scene was playing out in front of her was not something she’s written yet. Curious to see where it goes, Lexa let it play out. “I don’t recognise who this other character is…” She continued to watch and her heart skips a beat when the unknown character turns around to reveal her face.

“It’s Clarke!” Anya pointed out. “She’s in your book too?”

“No…” Lexa continued to watch the Commander and Clarke talk and then next thing you know, the two of them are kissing. Lexa’s eyes widen in shock. She stood up immediately and walked through the image, causing it to break and eventually disappear.

“Well that’s interesting,” Anya smirked. She looked to her sister, “Care to share what that was about?”

“Not really.” Lexa made her way into the kitchen and took out a bottle of water. She sighed and saw that her sister had followed her, “We may have… kissed.”

“What!?” Anya exclaimed.

Lexa nodded. “She also asked me out…”

“And what did you say?” Anya asked.

“We’re going out Saturday.”

Anya clasped her hands together, “About fucking time you get back out there, _Weasley_!”

Lexa walked past Anya and pushed her sister slightly. “Shut up.”

* * *

Later that night Lexa laid in bed and found herself replaying the image of the Commander and Clarke from earlier in the night. This was not something she’s ever experienced, she had always managed to control her images. But this time, as the images played out there was a tug in a part of her chest that she’s never felt before. Not from her family, or friends or from past relationships, this feeling was something Clarke has triggered within her.

Lexa watched as Clarke and Commander did various things; hunt, hike and fight. Her favourite little scene was where they fought a giant gorilla in an abandon zoo. Whilst the Commander as all about ready to accept her fate, Clarke (or at least Clarke’s character) was having none of that, seemingly forming an elaborate plan to escape the wrath of the gorilla.

Lexa let out a small chuckle as she kept watching, “A welcome chaos indeed, Clarke Griffin.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! xx


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> clarke and lexa's date + clarke learning more about being a Nightblood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that it's been a while. happy reading! xx

The following few days pass fairly quickly for Lexa. She worked on her novel, ran errands and did her usual weekly things. And before she knew it, she was standing in a towel wrapped around her body trying to decide what to wear for her date. Clarke was going to be here any minute she still wasn’t ready.

“Can’t you just like…” Anya twirled her finger in the air and laughed, “Like in Cinderella.”

“I’m not a fairy god mother,” Lexa huffed.

“So where’s she taking you?”

Lexa shrugged. She pushed aside the coat hangers one by one trying to find something to wear. It’s a couple of minutes later that and outfit comes together and she’s pushing her sister out of her room so she could get changed. Once changed, she stepped out of her room in black skinny jeans, a black top and her black leather jacket.

Anya looked her sister once over and chuckled, “You know–”

“Yes, yes, ha-ha I’m a witch and I’m wearing all black,” Lexa cut in. “I’m fulfilling the stereotype.”

“You’re just missing the pointy nose and pointy hat,” Anya teased.

“Are you heading out tonight?” Lexa asked.

“Yeah.”

Lexa raised an eyebrow, “Are you going to tell me where or…”

“Nope,” Anya smirked.

Before Lexa could argue there’s a knocking at the door. She walked over and took a deep breath before opening it. She should have taken a few more breaths because she is quite literally taken away at the first sight of Clarke. Clarke wore a grey knit jumper (that was probably a size too big for her, but she made it work), dark blue jeans and a pair of dark knee high boots. “Hi,” Lexa grinned.

Clarke handed over the small bouquet of the flowers, “These are for you.”

“Aw, thank you.” Lexa took the flowers and stepped a little closer to Clarke, placing a light kiss on the blonde’s cheek. “Come in, I just have to put my shoes on and grab my bag.”

Once Clarke was in the apartment she closed the door and stepped towards the living where Anya was.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Lexa smiled to Clarke. She turned to her sister, “Be nice.”

“Aren’t I always?” Anya smirked.

Clarke laughed at the minor banter and watched as Lexa jogged down the hallway. She took a seat on the couch opposite to Anya. “Any plans for tonight?”

Anya nodded. “Just drinks, it’s been a long week.”

“Tell me about it,” Clarke sighed.

“How’s everything with you?”

Clarke scratched at her head slightly, “It’s still pretty overwhelming. But um… you know, having Indra is great and Lexa too. Lexa’s…” Clarke paused and smiled, “Lexa’s been really great.”

“Lexa’s the best person I know,” Anya replied.

“Are you about to give me the big sister talk?”

Anya nodded. “I know you guys have only known each other a couple of days but I can tell that she already like you, a lot.”

“The feeling in mutual,” Clarke nodded. There’s a slight pause between the two of them and Clarke suddenly grew very nervous. She didn’t really know Anya and wasn’t sure how the woman felt about her. But her nervousness quickly settled as Anya nodded and offered a reassuring smile.

“You owe me a new remote, by the way.”

Clarke sighed. “Oh right, I’m so sorry about that.”

“Just don’t blow up anymore of my things during your lessons and we’ll be good.”

“I promise to try?” Clarke offered with a weak smile. Their conversation ends there are Lexa reappeared in the kitchen.

“Ready?” Lexa asked Clarke.

Clarke nodded and stood up from the couch. “Have a good night, Anya.”

“You too,” Anya replied. “Bye Lex!”

Lexa waved to her sister. “Bye.” The two of them made their way to the elevators and towards Clarke’s car. They make casual small talk, catching up on what they’ve been up to all day. In her best attempts Lexa tries to find out where they’re going for their date but Clarke is hell bent on keeping it a secret.

The drive is about twenty minutes before they’re pulling up to their destination. “We’re here,” Clarke said as she turned off the ignition to the car.

Lexa read the big, blue neon sign and couldn’t help but smile. _BLAKE'S ALLEY._ “Bowling?” Lexa asked.

Clarke nodded. “My friend just opened it about a month ago. I figured we could eat, play a few games then there’s one other place I’d like to take you. Sound okay?”

“Sounds perfect,” Lexa replied.

They walking into the bowling alley, and the place is buzzing. There’s a good amount of people here already, “Dope” by Fifth Harmony played through the speakers, kids ran up and down the area and the general atmosphere to the place is exhilarating. They walked towards the main counter when Clarke suddenly came to a stop.

Lexa stopped too and turned to Clarke. “What’s wrong?”

“Raven and O are here,” Clarke murmured, motioning her towards the counter.

“Oh,” Lexa breathed. She turned to see the two friends currently getting their bowling shoes. “Are they joining us?”

“Oh god no. I didn’t even tell them where I was taking you because I was afraid they would crash it.”

Lexa laughed. “They’d really do that?”

“They kind of love you,” Clarke replied, her lips tugging up into a small smile. “And there was one time a few years ago where… actually, never mind.”

“Oh no I want to hear it now!”

Clarke shook her head. “It’s not a story worth telling.”

“Now I’m more curious.” Lexa looked over to Raven and Octavia and smirked, “You know what? I’m sure Raven or Octavia would love to tell me this story.” She started to walk towards the two friends when she felt Clarke tug at her hand.

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you… later…”

Lexa raised her eyebrow for a moment before nodding. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Clarke replied.

“ _Clarke!? Lexa?!”_

Both Clarke and Lexa turn around to see Raven and Octavia starring right at them. They both offered a small wave before walking up to the counter themselves.

“What are you guys doing here?” Clarke asked.

Raven pointed her finger immediately at Clarke, “Hey, you didn’t tell us where you were going so you can’t yell at us,” she joked. “Technically you’re crashing _our_ date.”

Octavia nodded. “Raven’s right.”

“But since you guys are here…” Raven trailed off. “Want to play teams?”

Clarke looked over to Lexa and gave her a questioning look, silently asking if she would be okay with it. She really did want to spend some time with Lexa but she really didn’t know how to say no to her best friends.

Lexa offered a small and reassuring smile. “Yeah, teams sound great.”

“I’m on Lexa’s team!” Raven shouted.

“What?!” both Clarke and Octavia yelled.

“Well Clarke and Lexa can’t be on the same team because they’re both Nightbloods and that’s just not fair.” Raven turned to Clarke, “And you my friend, are hopeless at bowling.”

“I am not,” Clarke defended.

“You are.” Raven turned back to the counter, “Bellamy!”

“What’s up?” Bellamy turned to Clarke and Lexa and smiled. “Oh hey Clarke… and you must be Lexa.” He offered his hand.

Lexa accepted the handshake. “Yeah, hi.”

“You guys want me to set up your lane next to Raven and Octavia’s?”

“Actually we’re playing with teams,” Octavia replied. “Clarke and me vs. Raven and Lexa, think you can set that up for us?”

Bellamy started typing away at the computer seconds later. The change is fixed within a minute and Bellamy grabbed bowling shoes for Clarke and Lexa. The four of them make their way down to the last lane and settle in to the area.

Clarke and Lexa sat next to each other whilst they changed their shoes. “I hope that it’s okay that we’re with Raven and Octavia,” Clarke whispered. “I really did want it to be just us two.”

Lexa smiled and shook her head. “I would have loved it if was just us too, but your friends seem great. I’m sure we’ll have a great time.” She paused for a second to tighten her shoes a little before placing both her feet on the ground. “It can just be us next time.”

“Next time,” Clarke smirked. “What makes you so confident there will be a next time?” she joked.

Lexa laughed and leaned in. She placed a soft, delicate kiss on the lips in front of her and pulled back the moment she felt Clarke trying to deepen the kiss. Lexa brought her thumb to swipe Clarke’s bottom lip, “I just have a feeling,” she smiled.

“Hey!” Raven yelled. “No fraternising with the enemy!”

Lexa threw her hands up in surrender. “Just wishing Clarke luck.”

“Yeah, okay, she’s going to need it.”

Clarke huffed. “I’m not that bad!”

Raven grabbed a bowling ball and laughed. She handed it over to Clarke, “Prove it then. You’re up.”

Before Clarke took the ball she turned to Lexa. “Truce? We’re not allowed to use our powers during the game.”

Lexa nodded. “Game on.”

So their first game of bowling started off with Clarke absolutely flunking her go and getting a gutter ball. Her second go isn’t that much better, but at least she’s got some points up on the board. So they all take their turns, everyone doing a lot better Clarke. And by the halfway point of their first game Raven and Clarke are in the lead.

After Clarke took her sixth go she moved to take a seat next to Lexa. “I was going to get us some food, did you want anything in particular?”

“I’m good with whatever,” Lexa replied. She reached for her bag but is stopped immediately by Clarke.

“I’ve got this.”

“But–”

“You can pay next time,” Clarke winked. “Go, it’s your turn.”

Lexa nodded and stepped up to take her turn as Clarke went to order the food. She took her stance, lined the ball up with the pins at the end of the lane and rolled the ball so that it curved as it went down, knocking right into the front pin and getting another strike.

She turned around and high-fived Raven immediately.

Octavia huffed. “Are you sure you’re not using your powers?”

“I promise,” Lexa laughed. “I use to be in a bowling league with my sister.”

“Seriously?!”

Lexa nodded. “So even without my powers you guys are kind of at a disadvantage.”

“I’m not,” Raven smirked. “We’re kicking their asses!”

Octavia stepped up and picked up a ball. “We’ll see about that.”

Clarke returned to the group about five minutes later with a pager to let her know when the food was going to be done. They go through a few more rounds with Raven and Lexa continuing to take the lead. The pager goes off about fifteen minutes later, just before their final go of the first game.

Clarke and Raven brought back two trays of food and placed them on the table in their area. The four of crowd around, nipping and snaking away for a couple of minutes before going back to take their turns. It’s not a surprise when Raven and Lexa win by a landslide.

The second game started straight after. Before Clarke stood up to take her go, Octavia leaned in to whisper something in her ear, “ _You might not be able to use your powers but I’m sure you can think of another way to distract Lexa.”_

“What are you guys whispering about!?” Raven complained. “On with the game so we can kick ass again.”

“We’re just talking tactics,” Octavia replied, “You might not be so lucky this game.”

Raven laughed, clearly not buying it. “If you guys win this game I’ll give you both $50.”

Clarke immediately walked up to Raven, extending her hand to her friend, “Shake on it.”

Raven shook Clarke’s hand with confidence. “But if _we_ win, you guys have to do my laundry for a month.”

“Deal,” Clarke replied.

Raven looked to Lexa, “Lexa, what do you want if we win?”

Lexa smirked towards Clarke, “I’m sure I can think of _something_.”

A lump suddenly grew in Clarke’s throat, rendering her unable to respond. Her mouth goes slightly dry and the beating in her chest picked up a little. All she could was nod before turning around and taking her first go. It’s better than her first attempt, knocking over 8 pins on the first go. When she goes to take her second go, it unsurprisingly travels into the gutter.

Lexa stepped up behind Clarke, ready to take her go. “If you fix your stance you’ll be able to follow through with the ball as you’re about to throw it.”

“Maybe you can show me how I should be standing for my next go?” Clarke smiled.

“Sure,” Lexa replied. She stepped around Clarke and got herself into position. But just as she’s about to take her first step she felt two hands hold either side of her waist.

“Good luck,” Clarke whispered into Lexa’s ear. She placed a soft kiss on Lexa’s cheek before letting go and taking a few steps back. She turned back to take a seat next to Raven.

Raven just shook her head and laughed. “You can’t use The Griffin Charm, that’s dirty playing.”

Clarke didn’t respond, keeping her eyes on Lexa to see if she had any effect on the woman. She might not have been able to use her powers but no one said anything about being a little innocent flirting.

Lexa took a few moments to compose herself, but it’s no use. She can still feel Clarke’s touch on her waist and her cheeks where getting a little warm from the simple kiss that was left there. She retook her stance and took her go, and for the first time tonight the ball falls into the gutter. She turned around just in time to see Raven gasp and Clarke and Octavia hi-fiving.

Clarke stood up to stand in front of Lexa, “Aw babe, what happened?”

Lexa shrugged like it was nothing. “Bad shot.”

Clarke laughed and leaned in to whisper into Lexa’s ear. “Sure you weren’t distracted?”

Lexa nodded slightly before adjusting her head so that she could whisper into Clarke’s ear too. “Two can play at this game, Clarke.” She took a step back and returned to snack off the remaining food. She placed a couple of French fries into her mouth and winked.

The next time it’s Clarke’s go Lexa is up to help her with her stance. Lexa stood right behind Clarke, one hand on the blonde’s hips whilst the other lightly supported the arm that was holding the ball. With her own foot, she nudged Clarke’s right a little forward and smiled as she heard Clarke’s breath hitch.

“ _Stop with the foreplay!”_ Raven yelled.

Lexa laughed against Clarke’s shoulder. She guided Clarke’s hand a little higher to help align the ball. “Just relax,” Lexa whispered. “Relax and when you let go of the ball, let your body follow through. Just make sure you don’t step over the line.” She paused. “One time offer, you get a strike now and I’ll give you a kiss.”

All Clarke could do was nod. She didn’t trust herself to say anything and she didn’t want to break the stance she was in. Though that was already proving to be difficult since she swore her knees were about to give way. Clarke took a few deep breaths to settle her breathing as she felt Lexa step away. Almost instantly she felt a colder, missing the warmth that seemed to have radiated off the woman behind her.

Clarke lifted the ball a little higher so that she could align it with the pins. She could feel her heart racing and she thought that there was no way she was going to get a strike. Not in the state she was currently in. But there was no point in delaying the game, she took a few steps forward and let go of the ball.

Surprisingly the ball travelled down in a fairly straight line. When it hits the pins it knocks 9 of them over, with the last wobbling side to side.

Lexa looked towards Raven and Octavia who were all starring at that final pin. And with a subtle flick of her wrist, the pin toppled over.

Clarke immediately jumped into the air as she turned around. Octavia was at her side first, hi-fiving her friend and Raven offered a congratulatory cheer. Clarke walked over to Lexa and smiled, “I thought we said no powers?” she whispered.

_Busted._

Lexa simply shrugged it off. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Clarke hummed in response. “Well then, I believe someone promised me something if I got a strike.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lexa teased.

Clarke stepped into Lexa’s space. She reached for Lexa’s hand and intertwined their fingers as she leaned in so that their noses were brushing. “You sure?”

Lexa grinned as she slowly leaned in and closed the distance between them. It takes everything in her to not deepen the kiss, but considering that they weren’t alone she fights through it (for now).

The game continued and it’s a lot more competitive than the first. Whether Lexa and Raven were worse off or Clarke and Octavia better off, it’s not quite clear. But the playful banter between Clarke and Lexa continue. Every other go Clarke would kiss Lexa on the cheek, causing the brunette to fluster a little. But by their last go they’re neck and neck, with Clarke and Octavia in the lead. It came down to the last go, which was Lexa’s.

Lexa stepped up to take her go and saw that Clarke was doing the same. “Nope.” She shook her head and pointed to Clarke, “You can sit, I don’t need you distracting me.”

Clarke raised an eyebrow, “Me? A distraction?”

“Oh we all know what you’re doing,” Lexa laughed. “Raven told me all about _The Griffin Charm.”_

Clarke placed her hand over her heart to mock being offended. But she let Lexa have this one, taking a step back to sit back down.

Lexa picked up her ball and took her stance. She needed to knock at least 9 pins to win, easy enough. She did her walk up and spun the ball so that it curved down the lane again. Lexa knows it’s a good throw and isn’t surprised when all the pins are knocked over. She turned around and is immediately engulfed into a hug from Raven.

She wrapped her arms around the brunette and looked over to Clarke, “Sorry,” she mouthed.

Clarke simply laughed it off and walked over towards them. She patted Raven on the back, “Congrats, even though Lexa did most of the work.”

Raven let go of Lexa a shrugged, not even trying to deny it. “Doesn’t matter, you guys are now doing my laundry!”

“Another game?” Octavia asked.

Clarke shook her head. “You guys can stay; I have another place I want to take Lexa to.” She turned to Lexa, “Unless you want to play another round?”

“No, I think I’ve had enough bowling for one night.” Lexa turned to Raven and Octavia, “I had a great time. We should hang out again soon.”

“We should!” Raven exclaimed. “As long as you’re always on my team for whatever we’re doing.”

“Okay,” Lexa laughed.

Clarke and Lexa sat back down on the chairs and started to change back into their own shoes. After gathering their things, they say their final goodbyes before returning their shoes and heading back towards Clarke’s car.

“So where are we going?” Lexa asked as Clarke opened the door for her.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Lexa huffed but didn’t push any further. She might’ve had known Clarke that long, but knew that she wasn’t going to get any answers that Clarke didn’t want to give. It isn’t a long drive as the pull into a garage about 20 minutes later. When the car is off Lexa eyed Clarke curiously, “Were are we?”

“My apartment building.”

“ _Really?”_ Lexa asked.

It suddenly dawned on Clarke how this may have looked – bringing Lexa back to her apartment like this. “Oh my god this isn’t– I’m not trying to– Well I–” She stopped and sighed as she heard Lexa chuckle.

Lexa offered a reassuring smile. “It’s okay,” she laughed.  They get out of the car and Clarke guided them into the elevator and towards the highest floor.  They step out onto the floor and walk over to stop in front of another door.

“I need you to close your eyes,” Clarke said.

“Now?”

Clarke nodded and Lexa did as she was told. When her eyes are closed she felt Clarke intertwine their fingers together.

“There are a few steps, okay? Just be careful and don’t let go.”

Lexa nodded and let herself be guided by Clarke. They walk up a few steps until Lexa feels everything around them gold cold. They were outside.

“Don’t open your eyes yet.”

About a minute past before Lexa felt Clarke’s hand within her own again. She’s being dragged a few more steps.

Clarke tugged slightly at Lexa’s hand. “Okay you can open them now.”

Lexa opened her eyes and her heart fluttered at the scene before her. Out in front of her was a small area set up with blankets and a few pillows, there was a bottle of champagne and what looked like a dessert plate, speakers and levitating lanterns to light up the area. Lexa walked up to one of the lanterns, nudging it slightly before turning back to Clarke, “This is beautiful.”

Clarke sat down and patted the ground for Lexa to do the same. “I figured we could just hang out? I’ve got drinks and desserts. I can also grab my laptop if you wanted to watch a movie.”

Lexa look a seat in front of Clarke. “Sounds perfect.” She reached for the champagne bottle and popped it opened without even lifting a finger.

“Show off,” Clarke laughed. “I tried to do that the other night and the bottle shattered in my hands.”

Lexa laughed as she poured the drink into the two glasses. “Really?”

Clarke nodded. “Raven thought it was hilarious.”

They fall into easy conversation after this. Enjoying the dessert plate and champagne, they play a game of twenty questions to get to know each other a little more. Lexa talked about her time in a bowling league and Clarke shared they story she promised to share.

After they’ve done eating they settle side by side, heads on pillows looking up at the night sky before them. With their hands interlinked together under the blanket, they use their free hands to point out the constellations they can see. And of course Lexa brings it up a notch, creating the constellations just above them again with her powers. It’s like she brought the stars down just close enough so they could really seem them.

About forty minutes later they fall into a comfortable silence. Content with where they were, their simple touch between them and just finding solace in each other’s company. Lexa let a small breath before she turned her body towards Clarke and propped up onto her elbow. She traced mindless patterns over Clarke’s sweater, just above her tummy. “Can I ask about your Nightblood story?”

Clarke turned her head slightly just so that she could Lexa in the eyes, “Like what happened when I first found out I had my powers?”

“Yeah,” Lexa breathed.

“I was watching Raven and Octavia make dinner... I had been sick for a couple of days, like really sick. I thought it was just a cold at first so I wasn’t too concerned about it. But I was on my phone and I sneezed and it flew out of the hands. It ended up just hovering in the middle of the kitchen.” Clarke paused.

“You felt that you were a Nightblood straight away didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Clarke breathed. “How did you know?”

“I remember that feeling.”

“My heart sunk,” Clarke revealed. “I don’t know why, but it just did. And we were all just staring at the phone, floating there. I had no idea what to do. Raven ended up calling my dad who then brought Indra over within the hour.”

“So lucky that your dad knew Indra, isn’t it?” Lexa asked.

“Definitely,” Clarke nodded. “I hadn’t moved since the sneeze; I was just… frozen. And then Indra brought me back to reality or whatever.” She placed her hand just over Lexa’s, so that they were resting on her stomach. “That first week was terrible. I was terrified almost every second of every day and it just wasn’t a comforting feeling. I’ve never known that much pain.” Lexa gave her hand a small squeeze. “But then I met you. You’ve helped me so much since that night I called you to the station. I really don’t know how to explain it but with you I feel… _safe_.”

Lexa’s heart started to beat out of her chest. She didn’t know what to say so slowly leaned down to press her lips against Clarke’s. She hoped that Clarke would feel everything she was feeling in this moment. For the first few seconds their kisses are small and delicate, afraid that she’d break the moment if she pushed too fast too soon. Their lips moved together they way a ship moves against the waves on a still day. It’s calm and seamless. It’s everything that’s right.

The kiss breaks momentarily, their foreheads resting on each other as they take in the moment. Lexa moved to straddle Clarke before leaning down again, brushing their noses over each other. Clarke’s hand moved just under Lexa’s shirt, to rest on the small of her back. Even the simplest of touches ignites a fire between the two of them.

Clarke leaned up just slightly to reconnect their lips again and Lexa pushed her back down as they continue the kiss. It gets a little more desperate this time around, more hot, more passionate, just _more_. Like they were thinking the same thing, their mouths opened, letting their tongues move against each other.

Lexa moved her lips across Clarke’s jaw and down towards the dip in Clarke’s collar. “Mmm,” she hummed. She felt Clarke move her head to side, giving her more access and easy access as she continue to suck and nip at the skin there.

“ _Lexa,”_ Clarke breathed. She continued to trace mindless patterns on Lexa’s back as her fingers traced over the delicate skin. Clarke is sure she is in heaven right now. With Lexa on top of her, kissing her, moving against her, she’s sure that she’s never felt this type of connection to anyone before.

Clarke brought her fingertips to Lexa’s chin, guiding Lexa back up so that she could kiss her again. They stay like this for a while, sharing lazy kisses like they had all the time in the world. Eventually Clarke pushed herself up so that she was sitting, keeping an arm wrapped around Lexa’s body. Clarke tucked a few loose strands behind Lexa’s ear. “I don’t want to rush this…” she whispered. “But if I ask you to stay the night, just to sleep,” Clarke clarified with a shy smile, “Would you consider it?”

“I would,” Lexa smiled. “I couldn’t think of a better way to end the night.”

“Really?”

Lexa nodded. “Do you think we can go inside now? I’m getting a little cold.”

“Of course, do you feel like watching a movie?”

“A movie sounds perfect.” Lexa leaned in and gave Clarke another small chaste kiss. She pulled back and waited.

Clarke let out a small laugh. “You’re going to have to get off me if we’re going to go inside.”

“Oh!” Lexa jumped off Clarke immediately, “Sorry,” she laughed. With the help of her powers, the blankets, pillows and everything else is packed up in no time at all. “How did you set everything up so fast when we got here?” Lexa asked.

“I called in a favour from my neighbour,” Clarke replied. She looked up to the lanterns that were still floating in the air and took out her wand from her bag. Slowly she lowered them down one at a time, watching as Lexa watched as well. It was all going well until the last lantern, instead of it coming down slowly it flew straight up.

Fortunately, Lexa’s quick reaction had her stopping it before it was too late. She brought down the lantern and floated it towards Clarke, “Maybe you still need a bit more practice,” she teased.

“At least it didn’t explode,” Clarke laughed.

The two of them grab the last of the things and head back down into Clarke’s apartment. When they’re there Lexa goes through the DVD cabinet as Clarke grabbed some comfortable clothes for her to change in. She pulled out some DVDs, choosing the let Clarke decide from there.

Clarke herself changed first into some more comfortable clothes before going back out to the living room. She passed along a pair of PJ pants and a loose fitting top to Lexa, “You can change in the bathroom and there’s make up remover in the cabinet.”

Lexa took the clothes and smiled. “Thank you.” She walked towards the bathroom and changed quickly, removing her makeup as well. She folded her own clothes into a neat pile and walked back into the living room, “Can I put my clothes in your room?”

“Yeah,” Clarke nodded. “Do you want a bag for them?”

“It’s okay, I’m going to have to change in the morning anyways.” Lexa pointed to the DVDs she had taken out, “I picked a few movies, I’ll be good with any of those.” Lexa started to walk towards where she assumed the bedrooms to be.

“Last door on the right!” Clarke called out.

Lexa followed Clarke’s instructions to the door that was already opened. She placed her clothes on the table, not taking in much yet as she’d much rather be with Clarke in the living room. When’s she’s back in the living room Clarke is sitting on the couch ready to play the movie.

“The Devil Wears Prada,” Clarke said.

“A classic,” Lexa smiled. She sat right besides Clarke and moved the blanket so that it was covering the both of them. They fall into a comfortable silence as the movie played. Some time during the movie they reposition themselves so that Lexa was spooning Clarke, her arms wrapped protectively around the blonde.

As the movie ended Lexa pulled Clarke in closer and yawned a little.  Before she could say anything they both heard keys shaking at the other side of the door.

Clarke groaned a little, “Can you lock them out?” she joked.

Lexa laughed. “I actually could jam the door if you wanted me to.”

“Please do.”

Lexa moved to kiss the back of Clarke’s neck. “I can go if you like.”

“No,” Clarke replied immediately. She turned herself around to face Lexa, “I want you to stay,” she smiled. Clarke sat up just as Raven and Octavia were walking through the front door.

“Oh hey Clarke,” Raven greeted. Lexa sat up moments after and Raven smirked, “Hello Lexa.”

“Hey, how was your night?” Lexa asked.

Raven nodded. “Good, we played another round of bowling before heading out for some drinks.”

“And how was your night?” Octavia asked.

“Unless your night isn’t over yet,” Raven teased.

Clarke groaned again. “Alright, that’s our cue to leave.” She took Lexa’s hand in her own and guided them towards her bedroom.

Lexa let herself be guided, “Night guys!”

Once in the room Clarke moved to her bedside table to open the lamp as Lexa closed the door. They fall into bed with Lexa cuddling right up to Clarke. They stay like this for a while, content and at peace with just being with each other.

* * *

The following Wednesday Lexa asked Clarke to meet her at Anya’s cafe. Their “lesson” today would involve Lexa taking Clarke to Nyko’s, the only potion store she trusted with getting what she needed. Over the years she’s been lured into a number of scams. Nyko’s was about an hour away, but seeing as Nyko was a good family friend, she never had to worry about being scammed or the quality of the products being anything but perfect.

Lexa sat at an empty table that gave her a clear line of vision to the door. This was not something she was expecting. Everything’s that happened between herself and Clarke in the past week has been indescribable. Lexa’s always been a little guarded when it came to letting people in - just because of her past experiences. But with Clarke she found herself letting her walls down immediately, she trusted Clarke immensely and that scared her a little.

She had called her dad the night before, telling him about Clarke and to see if there was a reason why they shared such a strong connection in such a short amount of time. He didn’t offer much of an explanation, since he hasn’t known two Nightbloods to date before. But chalked it up to simply “finding the one.” That scared Lexa even more.

It’s just past 10am when Clarke walked into the cafe. Lexa waved her over, standing up to greet the woman with a hug. “Hi,” she whispered, nuzzling herself into the crook of Clarke’s neck.

“Morning,” Clarke replied, mirroring Lexa’s actions. They break away from the hug and Clarke immediately leaned in to take Lexa’s lip between her own, startling the brunette just slightly. Clarke chuckled between their kisses before pulling back and taking a seat. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Lexa smiled as she took a seat as well. “Let’s order first, I’m starving.”

Clarke opened the menu, “Any recommendations?” she asked as she scanned the pages.

“Pancakes are really good or the eggs benedict.”

A couple of minutes later Anya is at their table and taking their orders. She may have been working but that doesn’t stop her from teasing her sister, causing a slight blush to appear on Lexa’s cheeks.

As they wait for their food Lexa explained what they were going to do for the day. She told Clarke about Nyko, a former Nightblood she’s known all her life. Nyko was the one to help her dad through becoming a Nightblood, so was practically an uncle to Lexa. But Nyko was diagnosed with NB a few years earlier and was one of the unlucky ones to lose his powers and get sick from it. But he’s fighting through it.

Once their food is served to them Clarke uses this time to go over what she learnt from Indra the previous day. Indra had helped her refine her levitating techniques and had started on a few mental and breathing exercises to help through certain situations. During her lesson with Indra it really hit her how chaotic a Nightblood’s life could be without the proper training. She just hoped that she’d get to level of calm Lexa seemed to be at one day.

Clarke admired everything Lexa did. The way Lexa used her powers seamlessly, with such grace and ease was something that Clarke found endearing. Lexa was the calming factor in this new part of her life that she didn't know she needed.

They finish their meal and leave shortly after. Lexa took Clarke’s hand the moment they’re out of the cafe and guided them to where her car was parked. It’s amazing and scary but also right how she felt when she was with Clarke felt. And for the first time in a long time she didn't have to worry if the feelings were mutual because they could just both feel it.

The drive to Nyko’s is always a great one. Lexa takes the M13 which ran along the coast, giving a great view of the beaches and oceans as they drove past. It was a beautiful day.

They arrive at the store in just under an hour and it’s nothing like what Clarke is expecting. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so quick to assume, but she kind of expected to see a small, old and worn out type of store. She expected the inside to be dark, a little messy and clustered with parchment paper (she’s seen too many movies).

But it’s anything but that. The store fairly big, opened and light. Natural light shone through a glass ceiling and the place seemed like it was organised to the brink. It’s mostly wooden décor with hanging glass ornaments that encased various plants.There were shelves with neatly stacked products, cabinets filled with jars of flowers, plants, spices and other things Clarke didn’t recognise.

“Nyko?” Lexa called out.

Nyko came running out of the backroom and immediately pulled Lexa into a hug. “Oh Lexa, it’s been so long since you’ve last been here. How are you?”

They break away from the hug and Lexa smiled. “I’m well.” She paused and looked over to Clarke, “This is Clarke, new Nightblood.”

Nyko stepped towards Clarke and offered his hand, “How long?”

“A couple of weeks,” Clarke replied. “Your store is beautiful.”

“Thank you, Clarke. I assume since you know Lexa, you also know Indra?”

Clarke nodded. “Yeah, Indra has been mentoring me through,” Clarke gestured randomly around the room, “All of this.”

“And I assume you want to learn a little more about potions?” Nyko asked.

“Yeah,” Lexa answered. “I’ve shown her a few things from dad’s book but I’m running low on a few things. You’re not busy are you?”

Nyko shook his head. He turned to Clarke, “If you’d like I can run you through the basics and set you up with a few things.”

Clarke smiled. “That would be great, thank you.”

Nyko turned back to Lexa, “Grab what you need, I’ll show Clarke the ropes.”

Lexa watched as Nyko pulled Clarke away and towards the main cabinet of the store. After that she starts to go around the store herself, finding the things she needed. She’s been here more times than she can count so she knows her way around quite well.

Once she’s got anything, Lexa re-joins Nyko and Clarke. She doesn’t say anything but merely listens to Nyko explain the basic magical properties of a few common flowers. He tells Clarke the stories behind the flowers and how Nightbloods have used them over time. He also talked about how Nightbloods have learnt to incorporate their powers to fit with modern technology.

For Lexa it’s like a quick brush up on history. So from time to time she steals a glance over at Clarke, who looked as if she was discovering a new colour. She is absolutely captivated by the things Nyko tells her, jotting down notes furiously whilst trying to not to miss anything important.

As time passes they slowly make their way around the store. They start to build up an “essentials” box for Clarke, main ingredients, equipment, jars and other little things at Nyko and Lexa’s suggestions. Once they’ve made their way around the store once, Nyko rings up the total and Lexa insists on paying this time around. Lexa is very persistent about this and given her history with Nyko, Clarke doesn’t really stand a chance.

They leave the store and Lexa opened the boot of her car to help put Clarke’s new things in. “Do you need to be anywhere else today?” she asked.

Clarke shook her head as she placed what she was carrying into the boot. “I’m all yours today,” she replied with a grin.

“Hop in,” Lexa winked. With a small flick of fingers the boot car closes and she runs over to the passenger side door, opening it manually.

Clarke let out a small chuckle, “You couldn’t just open the door with your powers?”

“You’re worth the effort,” Lexa smiled.

The drive is no more than ten minutes before Lexa is pulling up into a car park just across from a beach. It was just after 2pm, the sun was out and the sky was clear. The beach itself was also fairly quiet, given that the main swimming area was a little up further. Lexa had a spare blanket in the back of her car, so she takes that out with them to find a quiet spot on the sand.

Clarke took a seat right next to Lexa, watching the water in front of them. “I love the beach.”

“Me too,” Lexa replied. “I lived right on the beach for a couple of years when I was kid, it was the best thing.”

“Really, where?”

“A little further up the coast. Probably another 40 minutes.” Lexa paused and ran her fingers through the sand. “Then dad got a job in town so we moved.”

“Was this before or after you became a Nightblood?”

“A little before,” Lexa answered. “I think it was maybe… 2 weeks after we moved in I got my powers.”

Clarke turned her body completely to look at Lexa. “Was it hard? Growing up with the powers?”

“A little. No one really wanted to be friends with the school’s 'freak'. But you know, Anya was always there for me and same as my dad. And meeting other Nightbloods definitely helped too.” Lexa smiled and turned to Clarke, “How are you doing with it all?”

“So-so,” Clarke breathed. She took a small breath before continuing, “I still get a little nervous using my powers around like Raven or Octavia… and my parents especially. They’re always so concerned and I get it, but it feels like I’m sitting an exam I didn’t study for whenever they watch.”

Lexa reached over and took Clarke’s hand within her own, giving it a small and reassuring squeeze.

Clarke smiled and squeezed Lexa’s hand back. “Tell me that feeling goes away eventually.”

“It does, eventually. But until then I’ll be right here for you.”

Clarke raised her eyebrow, “Just until then? What if I want you around for longer than that?”

“I don’t know… I’m kind of getting sick of you,” Lexa joked.

Clarke gasped, pushing Lexa back slightly. “Jerk.”

Lexa chuckled slightly and brought two fingers to the bottom of Clarke’s chin, guiding their faces closer together. “You know I’m kidding, right?” she whispered, “I’ll stay for as long as you’ll let me.”

“Good,” Clarke grinned. They both leaned in to close the distance between them, their lips meeting in a quick but delicate kiss.

Lexa hummed as the kiss broke, “I mean if I get to keep kissing you I’ll definitely stick around.”

Clarke grinned again, nodding as she leaned in for another quick kiss. She pulled back moments later, “Oh! Can I show you something?”

“Of course–” But their conversation is interrupted as someone’s mobile starts to ring. Lexa reached into her bag and apologised, “Sorry, I have to take this.”

“It’s fine,” Clarke smiled.

Lexa stood up and took a few steps back to answer the call. Fortunately, it’s not a long call and she’s walking back to Clarke within a few minutes. But instead of sitting next to Clarke, Lexa found herself sitting right behind her as she rested her chin on the blonde’s shoulder. Lexa wrapped her arms around Clarke’s waist, “What did you want to show me?”

Clarke leant back, settling in between Lexa’s legs. Without saying anything she reached over to her bag and took out her wand and swayed it slightly, and to her delight a few small shells levitated right up in front of them.

Lexa watched, feeling very proud as Clarke continued to sway her wand so that more shells came up from the ground. Clarke seemed to be in complete control of what she was doing, moving and using her powers with confidence. “You’ve been practicing.”

“I have,” Clarke nodded. “No more explosions.”

Lexa chuckled slightly. “Have you tried without your wand?”

“Not yet…”

“Do you want to?” Lexa asked.

“I do… I just, I’m a little scared.”

Lexa loosened her hold around Clarke’s waist. “I’ll guide you through it,” she whispered, moving her hand to guide Clarke’s wand down to the blanket. With that, the floating shells came down as well.

Clarke nodded. She let Lexa guide their hands back up and took a deep breath.

“You’re okay,” Lexa reassured. “This is like… training wheels on a bike. I won’t let you fall or in this case… let shells explode?”

Clarke let out a small laugh. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Still supporting Clarke’s hand, Lexa moved her lips closer towards Clarke’s ear. “It’s just like using your wand. Focus on the shells, focus on bringing them up slowly. Remember, you’re the one in control.”

Clarke closed her eyes momentarily to take a few controlled breaths. Opening them up again she did exactly Lexa said. She focused on the shells in front of her. A few of them did start to move, but it didn’t seem like they were going to levitate.

“Without your wand you need to take it up another level,” Lexa whispered. She gave Clarke’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “You can do it.”

So Clarke focused a little more, or at least she tried to. Lexa’s hand against her own had her whole body tingling, it was warm and kind of sent butterflies into her stomach. She quickly refocused her attention back to the shells and by some miracle, one of them slowly rises up from the ground. Clarke smiled, “Oh my god.” There was a different feeling running through her fingers this time, like she could feel the magic coursing through her fingers.

“Good,” Lexa cooed as she started to pull her hand back.

“Wait,” Clarke breathed. When she felt Lexa’s hand halt at her wrist she cleared her throat. “Not yet… will you keep your hand with mine for now?”

Lexa smiled and moved her hand back to its previous position. They spend the next half an hour so letting Clarke practice without using her wand. Lexa found herself feeling more proud as she slowly eased her hand off of Clarke’s without any problems occurring.

And eventually, Clarke got the hang out it without her wand. Though she was still a little nervous, it helped to have Lexa right behind her. Clarke felt more than safe to express herself using her powers, knowing that Lexa wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

There’s no rush to end their day together, so the two of them find themselves getting lost in mindless conversations. They talk about college, previous jobs, previous relationships and Lexa shared stories about the other Nightbloods she’s met throughout her life.

Clarke is absolutely captivated by Lexa. The way she talked, moved, laughed and smiled has Clarke feeling like she’s found a one in a million type of person. Lexa is warm, comforting, and her overall presence just elevates any moment.

Sometime later they’re both lying with their backs on the blanket, with Clarke’s head resting on Lexa’s belly. Their fingers are intertwined as their laughter slowly dies down.

“Hey,” Clarke mumbled, “Are you free on Friday?”

Lexa thought about it for a moment. “After 5, yeah.”

“Well my parents would really like to meet you…” Clarke trailed off. “Would you maybe want to have dinner with us Friday night?”

“Meeting the parents, already?” Lexa teased.

Clarke chuckled, “Shut up. You know that this is different.”

“Of course,” Lexa smiled. “Just tell me when and where.”

“I think my parents want to cook, so it’ll be at their house. I can come by and pick you up at… 7? Does that work for you?” Clarke asked.

Lexa nodded slightly. “That’s perfect. Should I bring anything?”

“Nope,” Clarke replied. She moved off of Lexa’s stomach and up so that they laid side by side. With her head propped up on her elbow, she grinned. “My parents kind of love you already so all you have to do is show up.”

Lexa quirked an eyebrow, “So you talk about me, huh?”

“No,” Clarke replied immediately with a smirk. “Indra talks very highly of you.”

Lexa placed with her hand over her heart to mock being offended. “Oh Clarke Griffin, how you hurt me.”

Clarke let out a small laugh and leaned down so that their lips were barley touching. “Yes, I may have told them a little about you,” she whispered.

Lexa hummed and snaked her hand around to the back of Clarke’s neck, bringing her in so that theirs lips are connected again. Kissing Clarke is new and exciting and _refreshing._ Clarke is a breath of fresh air. And as their lips move together, as their tongues slide against each other, Lexa can’t help the flutter in her heart and positive ache that overtook her entire body.

The kiss grew a little more eager, a little more heated. Clarke moved her hands down Lexa’s body, stopping at Lexa’s waist as she continued to kiss the woman below her. Quiet moans are shared between the two of them, causing them to break the kiss because they can’t stop themselves from smiling. But moments later, a small spark zaps through their lips. “Sorry,” Clarke groaned, moving back from the kiss. “I honestly don’t know why that keeps happening.”

“It’s okay,” Lexa laughed, brushing their noses together, “Like I’ve said before, you are a very welcome chaos into my life, Clarke.”


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter :') 
> 
> happy reading!

Friday night came much too quickly for Lexa’s liking. It’s not like she should be nervous though, because this dinner with Jake and Abby was just to help ease their minds on any concerns they had with Clarke being a fairly new Nightblood. But Lexa still wanted to make a _really_ good first impression.

“What’s got you so nervous?” Clarke asked.

They were just outside the Griffin’s household and Lexa couldn’t stop her knee from bouncing up and down in the car seat. She took a deep breath in, “I’m meeting your parents, Clarke.”

Clarke smiled and reached over to place her hand on Lexa’s shaking knee. “Who already think the world of you for helping me through my… transition? Is that the right word for it?” Clarke laughed. “You have nothing to be worried about.”

“Are you sure?”

Clarke nodded. “They are really excited to meet you.”

Lexa looked out to the house and saw a woman, who she assumed to be Abby, walk past the window. She returned to face Clarke, “Okay,” she smiled. “Let’s go in.” The two of them hop out of the car and walk up to the house. Despite Clarke telling her to not bring anything, Lexa had brought a bouquet of flowers for Abby and a bottle of wine for dinner.

When they get to the front door, they don’t enter just yet. Clarke turned to face Lexa and smiled. “I’m just going to remind you again that you have nothing to be worried about, okay?”

Lexa nodded, but her nerves were anything but settled. She’s just about to reach for the doorbell when she felt Clarke’s hand stop her. She barely managed a “Wha–” before Clarke’s lips are pressed against her own. Lexa let her shoulders fall slightly, letting herself relax into the kiss. This was one way to settle the nerves.

The kiss lasted longer that Clarke initially expected it too – but the last thing she was going to do was complain about it. As cliché as it sounded, kissing Lexa was fucking magical. And honestly, she doesn’t know how long it would have gone on for if the front door wasn't then being opened. 

Lexa all but jumped back from Clarke when she saw Jake open the door. “Mr Griffin, I–” She’s cut off when Clarke gives her hand a small and reassuring squeeze.

“Dad, don’t,” Clarke said.

Jake threw his hands up in surrender, “I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Jake grinned and offered his hand towards Lexa. “You must be Lexa.”

“Yeah,” Lexa replied as she accepted the handshake. “It’s nice to meet you Mr Griffin.”

“Just call me Jake.” He stepped aside, “Come in, dinner should be ready very soon.”

Lexa stepped into the house and the first thing she noticed was the instant smell of garlic bread.

“We’re having Italian for dinner, I hope that’s okay,” Jake said.

“That’s perfect,” Lexa replied. The next thing she noticed was that the house felt like a _home._ Like the ‘wake up on Christmas day and run downstairs to find a tonne of presents under the tree,’ type of home. It was a brick layered house with photo frames across the walls, trophies in cabinets and a lot of other little things that reminder Lexa of her own childhood.

When they reached the kitchen and dining area, Clarke introduced Lexa to her mum.

Abby took off the oven mitts she was wearing and went in for a hug. “Thank you for helping Clarke,” she whispered immediately.

Lexa did her best to hug the older Griffin back, given that both her hands were occupied with the flowers and wine still. She smiled, “It’s no problem at all.” When they break away from the hug Lexa handed over the flowers to Abby, “These are for you. Thank you for inviting me to dinner.”

Abby accepted the flowers and smiled. “It’s the least we could do.”

Lexa then handed the wine over to Jake – who started to pour a glass for everyone. She and Clarke took a seat at the table whilst Jake and Abby set the last of the table. Lexa’s nerves settle further as easy conversation flows through the four of them. They asked her about her day and her job – all of which Lexa is more than happy to answer.

Throughout dinner, Lexa shared more of her Nightblood story with Jake and Abby. Having not been exposed to Nightbloods personally before their daughter, they are so captivated at everything Lexa tells them. She tells them about when her powers were triggered, about her dad, her sister, the other Nightbloods she’s met. And the questions Jake and Abby ask are nothing out of the ordinary.

_How can Clarke manage her powers?_

_What can we do to help?_

_How’s Clarke's progress?_

_Were the pains Clarke got earlier “normal”?_

Lexa did her best to reassure them that Clarke was more than okay. Maybe it’s because of her age, but Clarke was progressing more smoothly into Nightblood life then she was when she was eight. Clarke is smart and strong, she knows her limits and Lexa is sure that she’ll be a master of her powers in no time.

“You’re not going anywhere anytime soon, are you?” Abby asked, jokingly. “I know you said Clarke is doing well with her powers, but it makes me feel a lot better knowing that she has you looking out for her.”

“Mum,” Clarke groaned. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can. But your dad and I don’t know a lot about Nightbloods, so we can only offer so much help.”

“It’s just nice knowing that you have Lexa,” Jake added.

Lexa looked between Jake and Abby, who were both starring at back at her with the upmost gratitude. She let out a small sigh and smiled. “I promise to be there for her whenever she needs me.” She turned to Clarke and offered another reassuring smile.

“Okay, have you guys embarrassed me enough tonight?” Clarke asked her parents.

“Oh honey,” Jake smiled, “We’re just getting started.”

By the end of dinner Lexa and Clarke started to clear the table (without magic because Lexa wasn’t too sure how comfortable Jake and Abby were with it) and put the dishes into the dishwasher. Once that was done, they re-joined the older Griffins at the table for dessert.

“So how long have you known Indra for?” Abby asked Lexa.

Lexa put her spoon down and finished chewing on her food. “She was my first year economics professor,” she answered. “She came up to me halfway during our very first lecture and told me to stay behind and I’m pretty sure I held my breath until the end of class.”

Jake nodded with a slightly laugh. “She can be very intimidating at first.”

“Tell me about it,” Clarke whispered.

Lexa laughed. “Definitely. So I stayed back and she went right into the whole Nightblood topic.”

“She knew you were a Nightblood straight away?” Abby asked.

“Yeah,” Lexa nodded. “It’s…,” she moved her hands around slightly, trying to find the right words to explain what she wanted to explain. “You get this… _feeling_ when there’s another Nightblood around. It’s hard to explain.”

“Did you know I was a Nightblood the first day we met?” Clarke asked.

“Kind of… It’s like the feeling of having a word at the tip of your tongue.”

Jake smiled and took another bite of his dessert. “But by then you would have already known how to use your powers, right?”

“Right,” Lexa nodded. “However, Indra taught me more about myself… refining my powers and honing in on them in a way I never really experienced before. It was mentality more than anything else, just _really_ understanding what I was doing and what I was capable of.”

Lexa went on to talk a little more about her relationship with Indra. She mentioned Nyko too and his potion shop and about their little visit earlier in the week. All of Lexa’s nerves are long gone by this point, with Jake and Abby talking to her like they’ve known each other their whole lives. It’s a wonderful time getting to the know the Griffins.

Later that night Lexa excused herself to take a call from her dad. At first she was going to just ignore it and call him back once she was home, but Jake and Abby had both insisted she take it. She took the call out on the back deck. It was a standard talk between the two of them, with her dad telling her that he was going to be home in two weeks. As she ended the call, she’s just about to head back inside when Jake stepped out onto the porch with her.

“How’s your dad?” Jake asked, handing over a cup of tea to her. He motioned for Lexa to sit down at the table, taking a seat himself.

“He’s good,” Lexa replied as she took a seat. “He’s coming back in two weeks.” Her nerves slowly started to creep back up given that it was just the two of them now (and her mind races to the moment he caught Clarke and herself kissing just before dinner).

Jake took a sip of his tea. “That’s good. I’d loved to meet him when he’s back.”

“I can definitely arrange something,” Lexa smiled. She took a tentative sip of her tea, trying to decide whether or not she should bring up the elephant in the room.

Jake chuckled softly. “Clarke said you would be nervous.”

“Sorry?”

“She only let me out here if I promised her that I wouldn’t do anything or say anything embarrassing to you.” Jake laughed again. “If you’re concerned about me catching you guys kissing earlier, it’s fine.”

“Not exactly the first impression I wanted to give,” Lexa sighed.

Jake shook his head. “Nonsense. I know my daughter dates and I know this dinner wasn’t about meeting you as her girlfriend–”

“–Oh I don’t think we’re quite _there_ yet,” Lexa cut in.

“Sorry,” Jake laughed. “But you know what I’m trying to say, right? I know that this dinner wasn’t about meeting you as the person Clarke is currently seeing, but I’m glad that I know.”

Lexa let out a small sigh of relief, earning another soft smile from Jake.

“I like you, Lexa,” Jake said. “I know you haven’t known Clarke for long, but no one from her past relationships has talked about her the way you do.”

“She’s pretty remarkable,” Lexa whispered automatically. She doesn’t bother trying to contain the smile that appeared on her face. Jake already knew that they were dating, there was no point in trying to deny it.

“Clarke smiles like that when she talks about you too,” Jake said. “Thank you again, for everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“I do,” he replied. “As a parent it’s hard to not be able to help your kid when they’re going through something as big as _this._ We can only do so much and understand so much. But like Abby said earlier, it’s just a very comforting feeling knowing that she’s got someone like you looking out for her.”

Lexa smiled and nodded.

Jake stood up from the chair and motioned towards the door. “Let’s head back inside before Clarke comes out and yells at me for keeping you out here for so long.”

Surprisingly, Abby and Jake ask Lexa to show them some of her powers (which Lexa is more than okay in doing so). Lexa kept her tricks simple, even getting Clarke to help in a few of them to show her parents that she’s made some significant process since her powers were triggered.

Clarke and Lexa said their goodbyes just before midnight. Lexa thanked the Griffins for a wonderful dinner and again, Jake and Abby thank Lexa for everything she’s done for Clarke.

The drive back to Lexa’s apartment is nice and quiet. The radio is on in the background, the streets are somewhat empty and crisp cool air is absolutely refreshing. When they reach the building, Clarke managed to get a parking spot right out front. Before Lexa could say anything she was out the door and moving to the other side of the car to open the door for Lexa.

“You didn’t have to,” Lexa smiled.

Clarke stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Lexa. “You’re worth the effort,” she whispered.

Lexa chuckled slightly and pulled Clarke in closer. They stand there hugging for a few moments, enjoying being in the comfort of each other’s arms. Lexa broke the hug first, only so that she could bring their faces close together. With their foreheads touching, Lexa smiled. “I had a really good time tonight.”

“Me too,” Clarke replied, brushing her nose over Lexa’s. “Thank you for meeting my parents.”

“They’re great people.”

“You’re great,” Clarke grinned. She closed the distance between them and pushed Lexa up against the car. The kiss is sweet and passionate and it causes her heart to flutter.

It causes Lexa’s heart to flutter too. Her hands moved to cup either side of Clarke’s face, making sure she didn’t move away before Lexa was ready for to. With Clarke’s body pressed against her own and Clarke’s lips on hers, Lexa couldn’t think of a better way to end the night.

“Wow,” Clarke breathed the kiss broke.

Lexa smirked and snaked her hand to the base of Clarke’s neck, bringing her in for another heated kiss. Their tongues glided against each other as they fall into another moment of pure bliss. “Wow indeed,” Lexa repeated as the kiss broke again.

“When can I see you again?” Clarke asked.

Lexa thought about it for a moment. “Want to grab brunch on Sunday?”

“I would love to.”

“It’s a date then,” Lexa smiled. She placed another quick, chaste kiss of Clarke’s lips. “Text me when you get home?”

Clarke nodded, “Of course.”

 

* * *

 

The following few weeks Clarke and Lexa keep to their routine. Every Wednesday was their “lesson” day, dedicated to helping Clarke understand anything she was confused with from Indra’s sessions and just giving Clarke a safe place to practice her powers. They also saw each other throughout the week for lunch or just coffee and generally over the weekends as well.

They go on a few more dates and their relationship only grew. It’s no secret that there’s this undeniable connection between the two of them – and they are both so glad that there isn’t anything holding them back from exploring it. It is new and exciting and very _different_ to any of their past relationships.

As their relationship progressed, as did Clarke’s progress with her powers. With Indra and Lexa both helping her, teaching her and supporting her, Clarke is the most confident in herself as she’s ever been. They don’t let her become _too_ confident, still making sure she understood her limits and when she needed to take a step back. She manages her time wisely between school and “Nightblood training” (as she likes to call it) and just feels like she’s got a good grip on everything.

Lexa introduced Clarke, Jake and Abby to her dad the day after he’s back in the country. They went out for lunch and Gustus wasted no time in sharing Lexa’s most embarrassing stories from her early Nightblood life. Without question, Clarke loved it.  As does Jake and Abby as they can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for them with Lexa being so young. Lexa on the other hand, had never been more embarrassed in her entire life.

 

* * *

 

 

Lexa woke up one Thursday morning with Clarke peacefully in her arms. After their lesson the previous day, Clarke had gotten an email saying that her class for the rest of the week has been cancelled. It had been a stressful week for Clarke, so Lexa asked her to stay the night. She made a simple home cooked dinner for the two of them, they shared a bath and Lexa spent the night helping Clarke forget the shitty week she’s just had.

When Lexa felt Clarke stir under her touch, she only pulled the blonde in closer. “Morning,” she whispered as she kissed Clarke’s bare shoulder.

“Morning,” Clarke replied. In one swift move she move to straddle Lexa’s body, leaning down to pepper lazy kisses along Lexa’s jaw. The actions are stopped as Clarke rested her head between the valley of Lexa’s breast, seemingly going back to sleep. “Thank you,” Clarke whispered.

Lexa kissed the top of Clarke’s head and wrapped her arms around the woman on top of her. “What for?”

“Everything,” Clarke breathed. “Last night… Our Wednesday lessons… For you helping me throughout all of _this._ You didn’t have to offer help the first day we met, but you did and you’ve done more for me than I could have ever asked for. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“Hey,” Lexa whispered. She doesn’t say anything, but instead lifts Clarke’s head off of her chest. When she meets the gaze of the blue eyes before her, her words become a jumbled mess in her mind. She forgets what she was going to say and how she was going to say it. So instead, Lexa cupped the side of Clarke’s face and guided her so that they were kissing again.

The intensity of the kiss caught Clarke by surprise, causing her to break it all too quickly to catch her breath. But not even a second later, her lips are against Lexa’s again.

 

* * *

 

 

“Would you like to go with me somewhere today?” Lexa asked. It was now just past 9:30am and they were both finishing up the breakfast Clarke had made. 

Clarke put down her coffee and nodded. “Sure. Can we stop by my apartment so I can grab some new clothes?”

“Yeah,” Lexa smiled. “Your apartment is on the way anyways.”

“Where are we going?”

Lexa took a sip of her coffee, “It’s a surprise.”

“Another lesson?” Clarke asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Uh…. Not really. But it does have something to do with being a Nightblood.”

“So mysterious Miss Woods,” Clarke laughed. She started to clear the empty plates and cups, “Why don’t you go get ready and I’ll clean up? Then we can go.”

“Are you sure you don’t want some help?”

With a small sway of her hands, Clarke levitated the remaining plates and cups gracefully. She guided them towards the kitchen, “I’ve got it covered,” she winked.  

Once Lexa was ready she drove them to Clarke’s apartment. They spend about half an hour there, bumping into both Raven and Octavia before they headed off to their own class and work for the day. It’s just before 10:30am when they leave Clarke’s apartment.

Lexa was taking Clarke to the hospital today. She hasn’t showed this part of her life to Clarke yet, but with how everything was progressing between them (both personally _and_ in the Nightblood sense) she figured that now was a good time to do so. What she did at the hospital was very important to her. It wasn’t in any official capacity, but Lexa didn’t just tell _anyone_ about her “job” at the hospital.

This job was something that Indra had introduced her to in her second year of college. Obviously, being a Nightblood meant that she had powers that “normal” people didn’t – and one of those powers was the ability to take away pain. Two, maybe three times a week, Lexa visited the patients in the hospital – who even with the help of modern medicine were still in excruciating pain. But even with having powers there were limits. Time and time again, Nightblood doctors have tried to incorporate their powers to help with finding cures for the incurable but there has not been a lot of success stories.

So Lexa does what she can. She takes away the pain – unfortunately it doesn’t last more than a couple of days but it’s something. And it’s something that helps remind her that despite _what_ she is, so much good can come from having these powers.

It’s what helps ground her. 

“The hospital?” Clarke asked as they pull into the carpark.

Lexa nodded as she turned off the ignition, but offered no other explanation. She stepped out of the car and waited for Clarke to do the same before walking them inside.

“Are we visiting someone?”

“A few people actually,” Lexa answered. She guided them through the hospital corridors, saying hello to a few nurses and doctors along the way. She stepped up to one of the nurses’ station. “Hey Amy.”

“Hey,” Amy smiled. She grabbed a clipboard from the desk and handed it over, “I see you brought someone with you today.”

Lexa took to clipboard and nodded. “Amy this is Clarke…” She turned to Clarke and smiled, “And Clarke this is Amy. She’s a nurse here.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Amy,” Clarke greeted as she shook the nurse’s hand.

“Like wise. Sorry I can’t stay and chat, work calls.”

Clarke smiled. “Oh yeah, of course.”

Amy turned back to Lexa, “I’ll be around if you need me.”

Lexa simply replied with a quick nod before Amy was off. She walked past Clarke, nudging her playfully in the shoulder. “Come on.”

Clarke walked besides Lexa and took a peak at the clipboard she was carrying. It was a simple list with just a list on names and room numbers on it. “Are we visiting all these people?”

“Yeah,” Lexa nodded. “First patient is Jack Anderson.”

“And what are we doing with Jack?”

“ _We_ are not doing anything.” They reach Jack’s room but Lexa turned to face Clarke before entering. “This is something you don’t know about me… yet.”

Clarke raised an eyebrow but waited for Lexa to continue.

“So Jack has stage 4 cancer. He’s been through countless rounds of chemo and it’s just been surgery and surgery for him but…” Lexa trailed off and simply shook her head. “His pain medication is very limited because he’s allergic to so many things, so I… I help with that.”

“Help?” Clarke breathed. She watched as Lexa gave a small nod. “You help take away his pain?”

“I do.”

Clarke pointed to the clipboard. “All those people too?”

“Yes.”

Clarke is stunned for a moment. This wasn’t something she was expecting, but she isn’t too entirely surprised that this was something Lexa did. The memory of Lexa coming to help her that night at the train station fills her mind and there’s a positive ache in her heart. “This is…”

“If it’s too much, you don’t have to come in,” Lexa assured. “Maybe I should have told you beforehand or–”

Clarke shook her head to stop Lexa from talking. “No, no. I was just going to say this is… amazing. Obviously not amazing that these people are in so much pain, but amazing that you take the time to help them.”

“Would you like to meet Jack?”

“Yes, I would.”

Lexa knocked on the door and only opened it once she heard “Come in!” from the other side. Immediately she placed the clipboard and her bag down on an empty chair and crossed the room to the bed. Jack was curled up into a ball, his head shaking slightly as he mumbled incoherently.

When Clarke entered the room, the last thing she expected to see was a young boy – maybe eight or nine years old, curled up in his bed. She watched as Lexa moved closer to the boy whilst talking to the other older woman in the room (assumedly Jack’s mother). Lexa and the woman’s conversation is interrupted as Jack sits up, hurling into a bucket that the older woman had in her hands.

Lexa patted Jack’s back as he settled back in his bed. “You’re okay, Jack, you’re okay,” she reassured.

“It hurts,” Jack cried, curling up in his bed again.

Lexa took a deep breath in. “I know,” she whispered. She placed her hand on Jack’s shoulder and focused her thoughts into helping the young boy. She knew Clarke would be watching and would understand what was going on, since Lexa had done something similar for her that night at the train station. Almost instantly, Lexa felt it. She felt the pain. Having the ability to take away someone’s pain was great – but it didn’t mean that it just disappeared. It had to go somewhere. But Indra had taught her how to handle the pain in ways that non-Nightbloods can’t.

She closed her eyes and made sure she took all she could take from Jack. It always varied between patients on how long it would take for the pain to come back – so despite how draining it was on her, Lexa always made sure she took the most pain away from her patients. It’s probably about a minute later that she knows she’s reached her limit.

When she took her hand off Jack’s shoulder, she could see that he had fallen asleep (which was nothing out of the ordinary). She turned to Jenny (Jack’s mother) and offered a small smile. “You okay?” she asked, rubbing Jenny’s shoulder slightly.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Jenny chuckled back lightly, wiping away a small tear. “It’s just…” she trailed off, crying into her hands.

Lexa moved to the empty seat beside Jenny and pulled the woman into a hug. She’s known Jenny for a couple of weeks now – a single mother who was working two jobs to make sure her son got the medical attention he needed. They stay like this for a few moments, with Lexa turning to Clarke to offer a small smile.

Jenny broke away from the hug first, wiping her eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I’m crying onto your shirt… again.”

“Cry all you want,” Lexa reassured.

“Introduce me to your friend before she thinks I’m just a crazy lady who cries,” Jenny laughed.

Lexa laughed as well. She introduced Clarke to Jenny and Jenny to Clarke, explaining that she was showing Clarke what she did at the hospital with her powers.

“Lexa is a remarkable woman,” Jenny complimented. “She comes in every couple of days and just… does her thing.”

Clarke stepped closer to the bed, “I’m sorry your son has to go through all of this.”

“It’s okay,” Jenny breathed. “It sucks but Jack’s a fighter. He’ll make it through this.”

Clarke, Jenny and Lexa spend the next five minutes making small talk. For Clarke it’s a little odd because they talked like Lexa hadn’t just taken away all of Jack’s pain. But she quickly realised that this was the ‘normal’ for Jenny and Lexa. They say their goodbyes and start to head towards another room.

“Are you okay?” Clarke asked, noticing the slight change in Lexa’s overall demeanour.

Lexa popped the clipboard under her arm and brought her hands to rub her face. “Yeah,” she mumbled. “That was a lot more pain than I expected.” Lexa stepped to the side and refocused her breathing and her mind, as she took control over what she was feeling. What she took from Jack was more than she had taken from him previously. It wasn’t just the physical part of it – but also the mental and emotional pain as well. It was just so… _heavy_. Too heavy for anyone to carry – especially for someone as young as Jack.

Clarke rubbed Lexa’s back for a few moments. She listened and watched as Lexa took a few deep breaths and even noticed a few of the techniques Indra had been teaching her. She lets Lexa do her thing.

It’s a few minutes later that Lexa is straightening herself up again. “I’m good to go.”

“Where to next?” Clarke asked.

Without looking at the clipboard, Lexa motioned her head down the hallway and smiled. “Next patient is Hunter. Let’s go.” So they go see Hunter and Lexa does her thing again. Hunter is in his mid-thirties and was in a very serious accident some time ago. He’s been in chronic pain ever since and was in the hospital to have a surgery that will (hopefully) ease that pain.

He doesn’t fall asleep after Lexa helps him, giving Clarke a chance to meet and talk with him. Just like Jenny, Hunter talked about how much Lexa has helped him since he’s been in the hospital.

The next patient they see is an elderly woman who the doctors can’t seem to find a diagnosis for.

There’s also a woman in her late forties who has gone through an intense round of chemo and can’t seem to stop throwing up.

They visit a young woman by the name of Amanda, who declines all pain medication given her history with drug abuse. 

And then a young man with a case of Cluster headaches.

They have one more patient to visit and it’s someone who Lexa hasn’t seen before. She read through the extra sheet on the clipboard that gave her some basic information – letting Clarke learn about the patient as well. Sophie Trinh was having quadruplets and has been in labour for almost a day.

“Oh the poor woman,” Clarke whispered. “I’m guessing that this is the first time you’ll be meeting her?”

Lexa nodded. “Yeah, her name was pencilled in so I’m guessing she was a last minute addition.” They quicken their step and reach the room in a few minutes. Lexa knocked on the door a few times and when she heard someone yell “come in” from the other side she opened the door. “Hi,” she smiled at the two people in the room, “I’m Lexa and this is Clarke.” She stepped closer to the bed, with Clarke right by her side.

The woman in the bed offered a smile the best she could, despite how evident her pain was. “I’m Sophie,” she then pointed to the top left of her stomach, “Natalie,” then moved to point at the top right of her stomach, “Nathaniel,” then the bottom left, “Jeremy,” then the bottom right, “And the most troublesome of all, Jenny.”

Lexa couldn’t help but smile.

“And I’m Paul,” the man beside Sophie laughed. “Just curious, are you both Nightbloods? Because I thought the doctor said that there was only one.”

Lexa looked over to Clarke, silently asking whether or not she wanted it to be known that she was also a Nightblood.

Clarke smiled and gave a small nod. She turned to Sophie and Paul, “I am a Nightblood – however technically a ‘baby Nightblood’ compared to Lexa here.”

“This is Clarke’s first time at the hospital as a Nightblood,” Lexa added.

Sophie is just about to say something when her words catch in a strangled groan. Both her hands move to cup the side of the stomach, as her breaths became heavy and unsteady.

“Oh okay,” Lexa whispered, stepping right up to the bed. “Where does it hurt?”

Sophie let out another strangled moan and placed her hand back over the bottom right of her stomach. “Come on Jenny, Mama is doing the best she can.”

Lexa hovered her hand over Jenny’s stomach, “Is it okay if I place my hand down?”

Sophie nodded. “This won’t hurt them in any way will it?”

“No,” Lexa replied softly. “I wouldn’t be doing this if there was even a chance that I would be hurting you or your babies.” She paused. “I’m going to…” Lexa trailed off and gave a small wave of her hand.

Sophie nodded again.

Lexa placed her hand down on Sophie’s stomach and instantly she felt a kick against the palm of her hands.

“Now imagine that, but all day,” Sophie laughed, trying her best to hide the fact that she was in immense pain.

Before Lexa closed her eyes, she met Clarke’s gaze. Clarke was watching her in a way that Lexa couldn’t explain. There was a certain sparkle to the blue eyes before her, one that looked as if they wanted to help as well. Lexa flickered her eyes down to her hand and back up to Clarke’s eyes, silently asking if she wanted to help.

Clarke gave a slight nod.

Lexa smiled and turned to Sophie, “Would it be okay if Clarke helped as well?”

“Yeah,” Sophie smiled. She waved both her hands over her stomach, “Do your thing.”

Lexa watched as Clarke walked over. She took Clarke’s hand and placed it over where baby Jenny was kicking. Lexa placed her hand over Clarke’s and smiled. “Just close your eyes,” she turned to Sophie, “You too,” she smiled. Once they all had their eyes closed, Lexa took a deep breath and heard as Clarke did the same. She didn’t need to say anything else, it was purely instinct from here and she could feel that Clarke was picking up on it as well.

The moment Clarke closed her eyes, she felt it. She felt what could only have been what Sophie was feeling just moments before and Clarke was taken back, honestly. She did her best to remain calm though – she quickly ran through one of the breathing techniques Indra had taught her.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

In.

Out.

With Clarke helping, Jenny’s pain was shared between the two of them. And it was a quiet “Oh my god,” from Sophie that caused them all to open their eyes again.

Lexa lifted her hand off first, “Feeling better?” she asked Sophie.

“So much,” Sophie smiled. She rubbed her stomach slightly, “Baby Jenny has even settled down a bit.” She switched her gaze between Clarke and Lexa, “Thank you so much.”

“It’s not a problem,” Lexa reassured. She turned to Clarke, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Clarke smiled. It was a part-lie but it wasn’t like she was going to say that was a lot more than she was expecting in front of Sophie.

Lexa knew that Clarke’s response might hadn’t been the whole truth, but she understood why. She turned back to Sophie and offered another reassuring smile. The fall into a light conversation, getting to know a little about each other over the next twenty minutes or so. They say their goodbyes after that, with Clarke and Lexa wishing Sophie and Paul the best of luck.

The walk hand-in-hand back to Lexa’s car. “I don’t know how you do it,” Clarke breathed. “I helped with one patient and I feel drained.”

Lexa gave Clarke’s hand a small squeeze, “That’s where Indra’s mentoring comes in.”

“Are you okay to drive?”

“Yeah,” Lexa nodded. “But if it makes you feel more comfortable, you can drive us back if you want.”

“It would,” Clarke replied honestly. She paused as they reach Lexa’s car, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that I am here now and it’ll give you some time to rest.”

Lexa smiled and stepped forward to wrap her arms around Clarke. She nuzzled herself into the crook of Clarke’s neck and smiled. They stay like this for a while, just enjoying being in each other’s arms.

“Let’s get you home,” Clarke whispered.

Lexa nodded and broke the hug. But she didn’t let Clarke get very far without them sharing a quick kiss.

 

 

After a dinner that Anya had prepared, Clarke and Lexa find themselves huddled in bed together. Lexa went on to explain more about her history with working at the hospital; everything from Indra, to how long she’s been doing it for to the process to which patients she helps through her visits.

Clarke is amazed at how cool and calm Lexa seemed to be, because she was still definitely feeling what she took from Sophie earlier in the day. It wasn’t bad, it was just very _there_ and very hard to shake. But Lexa reassured her that was normal considering that this was Clarke’s first go. As long as she kept practising what Indra has been teaching her, Clarke will be able to help again (if she wanted to).

(Of course Clarke wanted to)

It’s no secret that Lexa is exhausted. She’s usually like this after a hospital visit – but it was nothing a good night’s sleep couldn’t fix. Tonight was different though, Clarke was with her and she was so content with how the day had turned out. The rest of the night is spent with Lexa putting on a show for Clarke. With the room as dark as it could be, Lexa updated Clarke on the progress of her novel – creating images just above them to tell the story.

 

* * *

 

Clarke’s powers progressed well over the next few weeks. She’s been keeping up with Indra, studying and practising the things she’s learnt with Lexa supporting her every step of the way. She’s become a little more confident without using her wand – but still felt more comfortable with it in certain situations.

Just the week before, Clarke went back to the potion store where she had spent the afternoon with Nyko and Indra learning more about potions. Potions was probably the thing she really enjoyed the most about being a Nightblood. The ability to create wonderful mixtures from an abundant of ingredients meant that the possibilities were endless. And they truly were because Clarke herself had developed a potion mixture that even Lexa hadn’t seen before.

As for Clarke and Lexa’s relationship it was going great. Their two groups of friends were slowly becoming one, all of them sharing a common interest in embarrassing Clarke and Lexa as much as they could. It didn’t matter though; it was a small price to pay as they moved forward in their relationship.

Now here they were on a cold Wednesday afternoon, just chilling in the park. Given the stressful week she’s had with school – Lexa told her that today’s lesson would be a fun one. Lexa was going to finally teach her how to create holographic images with her powers. One thing that Clarke had learnt over the past few weeks, was that a lot of using her powers was based on instincts. She had a pretty good idea on how to do the images herself but respected Lexa’s and Indra’s wishes to have her learn the basics first.

Lexa had drawn the attention of a couple of kids who were close by with the images she was creating. Dean, Laurel and Katie who were probably no more than 7 years old were all sitting quietly as Lexa put on a small show for them. The parents stood close by and marvelled at how still and calm their kids were, grateful for a little calm in their hectic afternoon.

When the kids leave, Clarke and Lexa move to find a quiet area of the park. Lexa laid out the blanket and the two of them sat across from each other. “You’re turn,” Lexa urged with a small smile.

Clarke pointed to herself, “Right now?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not going to…” Clarke trailed off, “Give me instructions or anything?”

“Do I really need to though?” Lexa asked. “You know by now that using your powers is very instinctual. And I can tell you’ve been itching to try it out.”

“I have,” Clarke admitted.

Lexa smiled and reached forward to give Clarke’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Trust yourself.”

Clarke nodded and took a deep breath. She raised her hands in front of her with her palms up to the sky. In her mind she focused on one thing; a butterfly first, just to keep things simple. A familiar rush ran through her fingers as little sparks of colours started to form above her hands.

“Focus,” Lexa whispered.

Clarke closed her eyes and tried to focus. After a few moments, she had a clear image in her head so she opened her eyes again. The random sparks of colours started to slowly form into an image, but it still just looked like a blob of different colours.

“It’s a nice… blob,” Lexa smiled.

“Not exactly what I was going for.”

“It’s okay,” Lexa reassured. “My first time doing this, I tried to create a flower but it ended up looking like a bunch of weeds.”

Clarke closed her palms and her blob disappeared. “Practice makes perfect, right?”

“Exactly,” Lexa smiled.

So Clarke nodded and took another deep breath in. This time she would try with something smaller – a flower also. So she opened her hands again, palms facing up. The various sparks formed again and Clarke tried to focus further on the task at hand. Random sways of colour swirled around for a few moments before, by some miracle, forming into a very small and delicate looking flower.

Clarke gleamed and looked across to Lexa. She floated the flower towards Lexa, “For my lady,” she grinned.

Lexa couldn’t help but grin too. She held out her hand and the flower stopped just above her palm. “Well done,” Lexa complimented as the flower spun on the spot. With her free hand she created a sunflower within seconds and sent it over to Clarke.

“Now that’s just showing off,” Clarke laughed.

The spend the rest of the afternoon creating the images together. Lexa does give a few tips on breathing and how to focus and refining the images – which Clarke actually picked up on quite easily. The little bubble they end up falling into is broken when it starts to rain.

Clarke, trying to be smooth, gave a small wave of her hand above her head in an attempt to shield the rain off of them. But instead, she somehow made it rain a little harder and just in their little area. “Fuck,” she sighed. “I’m so sorry.”

Lexa laughed and shook her head. “It’s fine. You _almost_ had it.”

“Can you…” Clarke moved her hands mindlessly around them, “Fix this? I’m probably going to make it worse if I try anything.”

“In a second,” Lexa grinned. They were already wet so it wouldn’t make a difference if she shielded them now or later. Instead Lexa moved her hand to the base of Clarke’s neck and pulled the woman in for a kiss. It’s kind of cliché, kissing in the rain. But Lexa definitely felt the appeal of it, maybe it was just because it was with Clarke but still, it was pretty freaking great.

 

* * *

 

Potions does become Clarke’s favourite thing about being a Nightblood. Lexa bought her a parchment book (just like Gustus') so she could start keep track of everything.

And eventually Lexa even becomes her student – with Clarke teaching her a few of the new potions she’s come up with.

 

* * *

 

Clarke kept going to the hospital with Lexa to help. It takes a few weeks to really get used to it, but eventually she masters the techniques needed to help with the after-care.

 

* * *

 

Her lessons with Indra reduces down to just once every two weeks, with her mentor surprisingly pleased with how quick Clarke has managed to pick up on being a Nightblood.

 

* * *

 

Every day Clarke is more and more confident with her powers.

She still uses her wand from time to time, but is comfortable without it nonetheless.

She works her powers into her daily life, sometimes very subtly and sometimes not so much.

And most importantly, to Raven and Octavia, Clarke becomes their expert tea warmer.

(As a joke, Clarke buys her best friends a new thermos each)

 

* * *

 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Clarke asked.

Lexa hummed in response. They were on the roof of her apartment building, watching the sunset for the day. She was sitting in front of her girlfriend, leaning back and being very content with the moment.

Clarke had her arms wrapped around Lexa’s body, keeping her as close as possible. They’ve been together for a couple of months now and honestly, it’s been the best few months of her life. Finding Lexa and learning about her powers has been such a, for lack of a better word, _magical_ experience. Clarke pulled Lexa in closer, “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

Lexa lifted one of Clarke’s hands and brought it to her lips, kissing it softly.

“Lex…” Clarke whispered. She waited until Lexa turned her head slightly before pressing their lips together.

Without hesitation, Lexa turned around and straddle Clarke’s lap to be able to kiss her better. The kiss is changes between being sweet and passionate to deep and heated. It was a mix of everything and they both could feel it.

Clarke’s hands moved to Lexa’s waist, urging her girlfriend to start grinding above her. “Fuck,” Clarke moaned into the kiss. She grinned and continued, their tongues moving messily against each other.

Lexa broke away from the kiss for a moment, “Why don’t we take this back to my room?” she suggested.

“Why not right here?” Clarke teased, trailing her hands under Lexa’s shirt.

Lexa leaned in for another quick kiss, but stopped it moments later. Without warning she lifted herself off of Clarke’s lap before her girlfriend could protest. She walked over to the edge of the roof and stepped up to the ledge. “We can be down in five seconds,” she smiled.

Clarke jumped up from the ground and walked over the Lexa, stepping up to the ledge as well.

Lexa held out her hand, “Do you trust me?” she asked, stepping off the edge and as she levitated mid-air.

Clarke took Lexa’s hand, “Always,” she smiled as she stepped off the ledge as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading this little fic of mine. it's been fun exploring this little world of modern witches and i hope you guys enjoyed it as much as i did :)

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://monkeykira.tumblr.com) / [twitter](http://twitter.com/solinasolina)


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